Grace

As usual, she was very gracious.
"Go honey. You understand I can't walk you to the door. Thank you for the visit."
She patted my arm lightly.

She always came to visit us with two gallons of ice cream.
I had five brothers.
One gallon would only last us three hours.

It use to be 25cents for every strand of silver I could find when 25cents could get you a Snickers.
She quit paying me to pluck out her white hairs when I started to make more than $5 three days in a row.

I always wondered why she took long walks.
I always thought she needed the exercise because she was getting older.
I later found out it was her third Rosary of the day.

I gently opened the nursing home's doors open.
Grandma had been in a wheelchair for over a year now.
In the end, she decided to enter because she wanted her children and grandchildren to be free.

It was her gracious way of letting us move on with life.
Just like it was her gracious way of saying she can't walk me to the door.
So all of her visitors can leave without feeling guilty.

I peered at a rosary peeping out from her pocket.
She learned the art of grace from the Queen herself.

ps. Photo at http://donstuff.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/snickers-bar.jpg
ps2. A rosary is a set of prayers that includes the names of Jesus and Mary.
ps3. The name "Mary" means "grace".