by Susan Bennett

Created on: March 03, 2010

Life Lessons My Friend Taught Me

When I decided to volunteer to deliver meals-on-wheels back in May of 2000 I thought I would be helping some senior citizens get healthy meals and letting them know that someone cares. Little did I know that I'd meet an 85-year-old woman who would make me forever see the world in a different light.

I have always enjoyed volunteering, and making people feel special is something that comes easy to me. One summer I decided to deliver meals-on-wheels during my lunch break. I was working at home at the time and was lucky enough to be able to make my own hours. Delivering meals was a good diversion from work, got me out of the house a bit, and gave me the opportunity to help some very kind people who needed just a little help to live independently. I was given a route with a list of eight people to deliver to. The meals were placed in special containers to keep them hot or cold, and they did a good job during the hour or so that it took for me to deliver these meals.

I went in order of the list I was given, starting to the closest house first. Sometimes I was greeted at the door and handed the meals off to the person standing there. It didn't bother me that I wasn't invited to come in. After all, though I was working with a church group that did a lot of community service oriented things, I was still a stranger. There were some folks that liked me to come in and set the food on the TV tray next to them. Others had me place the meal in the fridge or on a table in the kitchen. I'd ask how their day was going, you know, casual small talk, smile and see if they wanted to chat a minute, which was sometimes the case. Evylin was in the middle of the list. It wasn't too long before I realized I had better place her last! She made it easy to want to stay and visit with her a while.

Evylin’s husband passed away only six months before I met her and she was having a heard time since he'd been gone and she really missed him. She seemed to really appreciate my visits. As time went by I realized I enjoyed her company as much as she did mine. Eventually I started seeing the “real” Evylin emerge, and she was quite a character! She was funny, loved to tell me stories about her childhood, her job, and of course, her Eddy. Though she never had children she did have animals, and she especially loved horses, dogs, and cats. We would share “furry tales” about the funny things out pets did. I always left her

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