I thought there would be eleven of us to share a cookout at noon, but Joyce let us know that the new neighbors were not coming. The man told Joyce that his fiancee was out of town and wouldn’t be back until afternoon. He intended to come down to meet the rest of us, but we heard his Jeep leave while we were eating.

When Shawn thought I’d be awake, she texted that she and Bob had not slept during the night, and she had taken him to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning.

At 10:00 I contacted Holly to see if she, Bob’s brother Tom, and Denise were coming. Holly wondered if we could postpone the gathering to the weekend. I replied that I was prepared for today. In the back of my mind was three pounds of potato salad in the refrigerator, among other reasons. She decided she could come, but within an hour said she was still in her pajamas and was very tired. She had been through a lot this week and probably needed a 5-day weekend.

I knew Joyce was planning to come, and D said they would be here no matter what. They brought their grill to my porch yesterday. Our crowd had shrunk to four, but it was a close-knit four. During the meal Shawn let us know that Bob had a heart attack and will be in the hospital several days. D said we should pray, so we joined hands, and Joyce prayed for Bob’s healing. Even though all the neighbors were not physically there, we had never been closer.