Both were carrying a basket filled to the rim with fresh vegetables and canned fruit. Emma smiled as they walked toward the row of ranch houses along the main thoroughfare, her face turned toward the sun as if drinking in the wholesome goodness that shone down upon them. Besides quilting and entertaining visitors, there was nothing Emma enjoyed more than her weekly visits on Thursday to the elderly widows who lived near her home. That pleasure was now showing on her face. As for Hannah, she was happy to spend time with her good friend Emma. While most of the widows and widowers lived with their grown kinner on the family farms, usually in the grossdaddihaus, there were just as many of them, mostly women, who lived in the smaller portion of the more contemporary homes scattered in the community, houses that were occupied by their older children who worked at market or at local stores. Several years back Emma had taken it upon herself to visit with these elderly women each and every week.
