The list combined two households: bread without seeds, tea without milk, a newspaper neither woman usually bought. It was pinned inside a cupboard when Liv cleared her aunt's house. At the bottom, another hand had added don't forget yourself.
During a week of heavy fog, her aunt had shopped for a neighbor who disliked asking for help. Later, the neighbor took over the errands when her aunt became ill. Both women described the arrangement as temporary, although it lasted for years.
Liv found the neighbor still using a folded copy of the list. She said the newspaper was an excuse to stay long enough for tea. Neither woman read it closely. They argued about its headlines because talking about strangers was easier than discussing their own loneliness.
Liv left the original list with her and took a photograph for the family. Before she went, the neighbor added a loaf to her own errands and asked when Liv would next visit. The old paper did not prescribe a new friendship, but it offered a modest way to begin one: something ordinary needed, and a reason not to leave immediately.