Carpediem, why not post a reading of this piece?

 

No pressure, but this fits very well with our current theme of our 900 ju reading class. No Chinese input in this new computer yet. So bear with me:

The nice lady in her early fifties said warmly,-->The nice lady, in her early fifties, said warmly,

Your hu*****and used to be my patron.-->not sure about the use of "my patron". in the context, it seems ok. I would probably say: a patron to my restaurant. Or used to be a regular at my restaurant. 

I still remember those days when I ate dinners alone.

for eating alone brought me occasionally uncomfortable self-consciousness.-->I would say: for eating alone occasionally brought me discomfort and self-consciousness. (not sure if self-consciousness is good here).

skimmed (through) those self-congratulatory awards

those days are history-->ok, but I like saying: "those days are gone".

the ink stain on fingers are not healthy anyway-->is