How Are You?

"Are you okay," I asked an old woman walking towards me on the sidewalk. She was using a walker and struggling to close her purse.
"No, the doctor says I might have flesh-eating disease and my leg might have to be amputated."
"Do you have diabetes?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "I told him about the sore on my leg the last time I saw him but he says I didn't, but I am sure I mentioned it."
"I'm sorry. Take it slow, one day at a time."
~

"Hi Heather, how are you?" I asked.
"Not too bad. Today my divorce is finalized," she said.
"Congratulations."
"My friends told me to fight for the house but I wasn't going to do that. My husband had his house before he met me."
"You did the right thing."
"My eight year old son lives there, we have shared custody but I wasn't going to jeopardize him."
"Good for you, you have to be who you are. And you are honorable," I said.
"Apparently, I have a heart. The gypsy woman who held me when I was a baby told my mother 'She will grow up to be beautiful and very smart.'"
"She was right," I said, noticing that her big blue eyes filled her face.
"My mother had my I.Q. tested and it's very high. I mean I'm not a genius or anything but it's high," she said. "Hey, I suffered a lot to bring my son into this world. I hemorrhaged for weeks and had to stay in bed. Then he was born 16 weeks early. He was one pound, eleven ounces. He had to be hooked up to all kinds of monitors and people glared at me like it was my fault," she said.
"People are ignorant and frightened," I said.
~

"Hi Carl, good to see you. You look good," I said.
"I eat well," he said.
"Do you love to cook?"
"I love to cook, eat, and I LOVE to shop. Let me say that again. I love to shop, eat, and cook. At 6:30 AM yesterday I was on the bus to Walmart and then she (pointing into space) gave me a lift to Wilfred's and I bought little necks and quahogs, and then I went to the Dollar Store. I have all of my places that I go. I steamed up the little necks for breakfast and ate them and then I made a red chowder with the quahogs. I've got four containers in my freezer along with beef stew I made and chicken soup."
"You know how to take good care of yourself," I said.
"I come from a big Italian family. That's what we do. Hey, you have a nice Christmas," he said hugging Lily-dog.
"Thank you, you too!"