Some couples are perfectly content to live a life of leisure upon retirement: play golf, nurse pains, long for the past, and scope out early bird specials. Penny and David Cole of Westbrook are not one of those couples.

“I needed something to do, because I’d done everything I could possibly do around the house,” says David, a retired bookkeeper. “I didn’t want to just sit around and watch television.”

“I had to do something,” says Penny, a retired assembly line worker, “or I’d go crazy.”

The path they chose lights the lives of the elderly and housebound throughout the greater Portland area: delivering Meals on Wheels, a program overseen by the Southern Maine Agency on Aging.

Four days a week, Penny and David spend an hour and a half or so delivering meals to people seeking both sustenance and companionship. They each drive different routes.

“Penny says this is our time apart,” laughs Dave.

Why do they choose to spend their time this way?

“I like people,” says Penny, and you know she means it. “They really appreciate it when you spend the time to talk with them.”

Penny, not exactly the shy and retiring type, notes that she spends a long time on her route because she takes the time to get to know the people she serves.

David echoes Penny. “It’s the people. We try to make contact every time we deliver.”

David also volunteers for Money Minders, another service of the Agency on Aging.

“I help people pay bills or reconcile their checkbooks,” he says.

Penny and David have encountered some unusual situations, not surprising given the nature of the program. One person had died inside the house; two others had fallen and broken their hips. Still another had been surrounded by smoke because of a smoky furnace. Penny and David deal with each person and every circumstance in a loving and professional manner.

“We also lose people,” says Penny, who takes it hard when one of her clients passes away. “I’ve had my heart broken a couple of times.”

The Meals on Wheels program has been directly impacted by the current budget sequestration, as deliveries have been reduced from five to four times a week.

“That makes it harder for the people who prepare the meals,” says Penny, “because they have to pack two meals for delivery on Tuesday.”

Penny and David also volunteer for the My Place Teen Center and the Westbrook Historical Society. Their non-volunteer interests include reading and visiting state and national parks in their camper.

Readers who might be interested in volunteering for the Meals on Wheels program or others sponsored by the Southern Maine Agency on Aging can go to www.smaaa.org.

David Treadwell lives in Brunswick.

Copy the Story Link