Last month a friend got a phone call in my driveway and her face folded. I did not ask for details. I said come inside. I put water on for tea and started onion in olive oil because soup is what my hands know when my mouth does not.
Feeding people in crisis is not fixing. It is witness. Keep portions small. Let them eat or not eat. Wash a dish while they talk or sit silent. Biscuit sat on her feet like he had been trained for grief, which he has not, but dogs know.
I learned this after funerals, after bad election nights, after my own hard chapters. The table holds weight when chairs are pulled close.
Keep broth in your freezer. Keep your door unlocked emotionally if not literally. Love feeds sideways.