By Priscilla Pittman, MSW, MA
Mary pushed her grocery cart through the store reciting the items needed for the casserole. She nodded and smiled at a silver headed man who greeted her with a cheerful “Good morning.” Busily cruising the aisles trying to remember the list she’d left on the table, and she passed him again. He smiled and she asked if she could help him find something. “No,” he replied, he was still trying to decide. Finally, content she had done the best she could, she headed for the check-out aisle. And here he was again; his cart remained empty. Concerned, she touched his arm and asked if she could help him. He lowered his head and said, “Mam, this is the only place where people will talk to me.” A conversation followed that revealed the death of his wife following a battle with cancer, and the loneliness that consumed him.
Continue Reading