Thank you all

What a perfect time of the year to thank people who have helped me throughout the years, people whom I can trust, if need be, with the key to my home.

It is also a perfect time to recognize those who have provided invaluable help when most needed, and to a stranger, whose name I do not know:

Lou, my painter; Ruben, my electrician; Carlos, my roofer; Walter, my plumber; Robin, my arborist; Jorge (Io), who made some adjustments to the interior of my home; Rita, my most wonderful friend who has offered to prepare several meals for me when I will be recuperating from surgery; and Linda, who began as my trusted pet sitter and has become my friend.

And I thank the stranger who saw me struggling to pick up the Miami Herald from my driveway and who, without being asked, picked up the paper and said he would do this for as long as necessary.

To all of you, a great big Thank you. Life would be so much more difficult without you.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Thank you all."