Our Elderly Friends

I can't remember if I've written about this before but for a year now Ella and I have been delivering food every other week for Meals on Wheels. All of the people on our route are elderly and love getting to interact a little kid! Ella has progressed significantly from being a little shy and scared by their wheelchairs and oxygen tubes to being pretty affectionate and can now hand the people their food and greet them and chat a little bit. She also really likes copying me and knocking on the doors and saying in a kind of sing-songy voice, "Meals on Wheee-els!" She's even learned some of their names and when one lady wasn't there one week she kept asking "Where's Miss Shelby mommy? Where she go?"
She has a little welcoming committee of elderly folks who are always in the front lobby of one nursing home. It's really adorable-they always open the door for us and she runs over and gives them hugs and they sometimes give her a quarter or a snack which she's always thrilled about. One lady, Miss Rita, doesn't like the raisins that come in the meals and saves them and gives Ella 3 boxes every time we see her. Overall Ella enjoys the whole process and likes the days when we get to "go help people get their lunch." On an amusing note, we delivered meals a couple days ago and that night we were playing with her cousins at my sister-in-law's house. At one point 3 kids were in my nephew's room and Ella was shut out in the hall way. She looked and me sadly and asked what to do. I told her to knock on the door and see if they'd let
her in. She turned around, started knocking and then sang out loudly "Meals on Wheee-eels!!"