One afternoon I noticed a volunteer standing alone beside a stack of folding chairs.

Her name was Ellen, and she had recently left a marriage after thirty years.

She kept apologizing for not understanding the signup system.

“I was never good with this sort of thing,” she said.

“Who told you that?” I asked.

She looked startled.

“My husband used to handle all the paperwork.”

I showed her how to use the spreadsheet, slowly and without rushing.