What eateries are open on New Year's Day?

Giant Food store. Forget it.

How about Dunkin? I got a gift card from my friend Tree.

Off I drove.

Ordered a small iced coffee with a bit of cinnamon in it.

A handsome gent named - Kuman ? - served me.

Also got croissant with turkey sausage, egg and cheese.

All delicious.

As I stood waiting for my order to be processed an older gent stood there too.

He made a couple of remarks and I said, How come you're so smart?

We sat down and began to chat. He loved to talk.

I tried not to get a stiff neck from looking at him.

His age, I guess,is about 82. Never been married. Has many friends and rides his bike in the warm weather,

Just bought a new car and is paying it off. Hopes it's his last car.

It was a grey sedan that gets good mileage.

I asked what restaurants he liked. Bonnet Lane. YES! I mentioned my friend Walter Straus lived in Regency Towers right behind us, but he moved out, and in with a Muslim family in Germantown. Wonder if my Walter is still alive. His photo is on the side of my fridge.

Look me up, I said to Michael, and told him my name. Ruth Deming. I run a support group. His own mother took her own life. As did many people in his family.

People are afraid of being alone these days, he said.

BTW, I did get an invoice from Adelaide Review, which I paid with my credit card. $65.

Never would've entered the contest if I didn't think I had a chance of winning.

Gonna write a poem about my name:

MY NAME

Plain as a bagel.
Ruth Deming.
No pizzazz.
Does it do me justice?
Meet me in the Starbucks Cafe at the Giant.
I'll be sitting alone, sipping on hot peppermint coffee
Reading a book, all alone, the way I like it.