Roy

Alone.

It must be awful coming home to an empty house every night. Our neighbor Roy has been adjusting to the sudden death of his wife last month and is so grateful to all neighbors. We had created a dinner food tree to make sure he enjoyed a hot meal every evening for the past month. Last night, I was the final person to deliver dinner to him.

I made comfort food: Meatloaf, panzanella salad, fresh corn on the cob and delicious bakery cookies for dessert.

Michael delivered it to his door and they briefly chatted. He noticed the pain was still in Roy’s eyes.

It is even more real for me as I can easily see Michael in this same situation. Thankfully, we have had these years to talk about what he should do afterwards.

My disease has been and will be a long goodbye. It is harder on the sick person but easier on the family as death is somewhat expected. Sudden death is often a lovely, easy death but very hard on the loved ones. There is no goodbye. Much is left unsaid.

As the weather warms, we will keep an eye out for him as he arrives home or walking around his yard. We will invite him over for a glass of wine and a chat.

My heart aches for him.