The Sum

I sit and fidget as I wait to to stand and address my gorgeous grandmother at a 90th birthday celebration in her honor.  

She is sitting at the front, center stage, elegantly dressed in a cool celadon suit.  Blessed with Norwegian skies blue eyes, silver hair and flawless skin, she is breathtaking.

On the other hand, I am teary, splotchy, undone with gratitude and love for this extraordinary matriarch.  How best to honor such a life in a two-minute verbal tribute?   I fumble, stumble for the right words, which fail me.   It is daunting, completely impossible.  As usual, it's easier for me to write a poem.

The Sum

She has seen nine decades pass,

Ninety years of life.

Thirty two thousand eight hundred and seventy two sunsets

Flowing with prayer and a song every single day.

What will be the sum of my life when I’m ninety?

She has raised four children,

Fourteen grandchildren arranged like sparkling jewels in a crown.

Fresh-faced great-grandchildren abound,

Each one prayed for by name every single day.

What will be the sum of my life when I am ninety?

She was a plucky pioneer, plowing soil and souls in a foreign land.

“She’s a pistol I tell you!”  You don’t mess with grandma.

True in her words, with actions to match,

Persistent in song and prayer with her husband every single day.

What will be the sum of my life when I am ninety?

She is ready to go home when her Father calls her,

Her handsome love waits for her, singing, in heaven’s courts.

Both have run the race well,

She counts her blessings in prayer and song every single day.

What will be the sum of my life when I am ninety?

She is the rarest gift to those who come behind her,

We all know that prayer needn’t be fancy, but frequent.

A cloud of witnesses remains to testify
That Jesus loves you, and so do I, that’s why I pray for you every single day.

What will be the sum of my life when I am ninety?

Happiest of birthdays grandma!