Students arrived with new ideas and enough energy to carry heavy cartons without complaining.

Some older volunteers slowed down and chose to make phone calls instead.

People moved away, became ill, or died.

Every name taken from the calendar left a mark, and we learned to honor each person’s place without pretending the world could stop changing.

Richard visited occasionally.

We never became close friends, and I didn’t seek to rewrite his history with his father.

Sometimes he would stay for coffee and watch the people coming and going.