Boxing Day →[More:]I now understand there's no such thing as Boxing Day in Ohio after people giving me odd looks when I mentioned it.

Today Diane and I, and a friend of hers, cooked dinner at a local church, a free dinner for anyone in the community who wanted to eat it.

We made a ham, cheese and potato bake, with green beans, salad and rolls, followed by pineapple upsidedown cake. It was hard work, but fun, and we over-catered. We didn't know if we would have a crowd or just a few and it was somewhere in between.

There were a few old people who didn't want to be on their own, and the rest were people who were just down on their luck.

One family broke my heart - a man with three small children, two girls aged 4 and 3, and a little boy aged about 18 months (he was wearing baby Carhartts, unbelievably cute). The 3-year-old had had brain surgery and had to have her head shaved, so Annie, the 4-year-old had also wanted her head shaved too so her sister wouldn't feel bad.

Annie was an absolute treasure, bright, engaging and a total delight. But unless she finds a mentor at some point in her life to guide her, she really doesn't stand a chance, I fear. All three children were dirty, their clothes were filthy and they devoured the food in a way that suggested it was their first good meal of the day.

Most of the women there were younger than me, but looked years older. Hardly any of them had all their teeth, one woman aged around (guessing here) 35 had no teeth at all. A lot of the diners had mental problems or learning difficulties. Some of them were addicts or alcoholics.

Tonight I feel incredibly lucky to have the life I have today. If I had not stopped drinking when I did ... there but for the grace of God.