Who is Mr. Sweet Little from In Love & Trouble; Stories of Black Women and what is their importance?

Mr. Sweet Little appears in the story, To Hell With Dying. He is both a diabetic and an alcoholic who lives next door to a family with several small children. Over the course of the story, Mr. Sweet is often ill due and is convinced that he is dying. His neighbor's children, however, aid in his recovery and bring him back to life each and every time wh their innocence and good nature. When the narrator goes away to college, she comes home to find Mr. Sweet gravely ill and must come to terms with the fact that she cannot help him. Mr Sweet leaves the narrator his guitar and a lifetime of sweet memories.