DEAR ABBY: As a professional who works with grieving individuals on a daily basis, I would like to offer another opinion to the person who wrote you advising that food brought to grieving people be brought in disposable containers or "garage sale castoffs" rather than in containers that need to be returned.
Abby, returning the empty container is the important part. It becomes a way for the grieving individual to have contact with the person who sent the food. That subsequent contact may be more needed than the food that came in the container.
People who are grieving need contact with others, and this is a good way to get it. -- PAUL V. JOHNSON, DIRECTOR OF AFTERCARE SERVICES, ST. PAUL, MINN.
DEAR MR. JOHNSON: You make an excellent point.