SOUP ON SPEED

       Joey was handing a lunch and a drink out the back door to his homeless friend when I hit the kitchen. I've no idea how many people come to that door, but they know he's good for a meal.

       He was anxious to tell me that he did so well on his last exam that he's now working on a 12th-grade level. His teacher must have dropped straight out of Heaven—that child has never once complained about school, or how long it might take.

       Bonnie came in shortly after I did, and we dug through the canned-goods boxes in the pantry for a few things to add to the huge pot of soup on the stove. Joey contributed a box of chicken broth, and I put in some macaroni and broccoli.

       With that underway, we counted sacks in the refrigerator—we needed 27 more. I got out the trays that I make sandwiches on and showed Bonnie how I lay them out and stack them up, 12 to a tray. She's very fast, and it was hard to keep up with her! After we'd finished the sack lunches, we had to make 70 sandwiches to serve with the soup. The timing was perfect.

       Bonnie is SO motherly at the serving counter! "Eat your soup; it's good for you. Here, take two sandwiches, you're a growing boy!" I'm pretty sure they like her a lot!

       Gappy dropped by for a few minutes. He's feeling much better than last week, and I enjoyed his big smile and warm "Hey, Miss Joy!" I'm starting to miss my kitchen something awful. Joey tried to comfort me, "You'll be back, Miss Joy. It'll be okay."

       "I'll write to you, Joey," I said. "That's one way I can get you to read!"

       ONE came often to the kitchen. When I asked for a new story, he had only one thing to report: "How about the woman who woke up the whole top floor at 3:30 a.m., screaming and swearing about another woman who was snoring?"

       Overall, folks at the shelter are upbeat today. I introduced Bonnie to Aaron and told him that she is taking my place for the winter and that if he needs a hug, she's good for those.

       We made about 25 PBJ sacks, refilled the cookie and chip boxes for the next volunteers, and cleaned up our mess. Before I knew it, it was time to leave—3 hours of hustle and lots of warm fuzzies—mission accomplished.