“I was going to make coffee,” says Joyce. “I have it made. All I have to do is put milk in it. But my legs are so bad that I just can’t stand to get the milk.” Instead, Joyce will have to wait a while, until she finds the strength to get back to her feet. Hopefully, that will be before her coffee goes cold.  

For Joyce, something as simple as making coffee has become an ordeal. “By the time I get done with anything that should take 15 minutes, it takes an hour,” she says. “It’s not a good situation.” 

A retired public-school teacher from the Bronx, Joyce loved going out to the theater with her husband. She used to volunteer at the Museum of Natural History, helping tourists find exhibits and pointing them toward the nearest bathroom. Even after her husband passed, Joyce made sure to experience all the art the city had to offer — from off-Broadway plays to the opera. “Those places are so wonderful,” says Joyce, wistfully. “And I can’t go to any of them now because of my leg.”  

It all started a few years ago when the doctor found a pre-cancerous growth on Joyce’s leg. Due to the size of the growth that needed to be removed, she needed both surgery and a skin graft. The recovery would be long. Joyce was given specific instructions to stay off her feet. She was only allowed to get up to use the bathroom. “Then I asked, ‘What about the kitchen?’” No cooking — doctor’s orders. So, Joyce signed up to receive home-delivered meals.  

When the leg wasn’t that bad, I’d make my own soup, but I can’t stand now. I can’t stand in one place for two minutes.

It took her a year to heal completely. She only had a few months of freedom before her knee started to bother her. Now, every step she takes is painful. Joyce needs a rolling walker to get around and, even then, she does so through gritted teeth. She’s tried everything, but doctors say the only sure fix would be a knee replacement, something Joyce isn’t sure she could handle at her age. Though, sometimes, the pain makes her reconsider.  

Joyce lives alone. “I’m managing by myself,” she says but admits she wouldn’t be able to if not for the daily meals she receives from Citymeals. “When the leg wasn’t that bad, I’d make my own soup, but I can’t stand now,” she says. “I can’t stand in one place for two minutes.”