WA 2 Draft 2

When you hear her voice on the other end of the line, you can tell each word is said with unimaginable pain, each breath is an exhaustive exertion. Grandma has been having back problems for the past six months, and the source of her pain had not been diagnosed until days ago. Some nights she will call, and you can tell that she has uncontrolled tears running down her wrinkled face from the fiery pain within her body. Other nights it is not as bad, but it is impossible to discern the true pain she's in because she exerts almost as much energy fighting her pain as she does concealing it. Grandma, approaching eighty, still has a part time job as a gardner, general greenskeeper, and church florist, all of which she approaches with the eagerness and zeal of a five year old. Seeing her in pain arouses intense sympathy for her situation, but most of all it brings admiration to no end. She has been living alone for many years now, without the aid of anyone, and when you are over as a guest you know it gives her immense joy to see excited and content conversation being carried on around the warmth of her immaculately prepared dishes and arrangments. Although she tries to not show it, just a quick stop by to make sure everything's alright makes her day. With surgery looming, you can tell she is fearful, but her stubborn courage and unending inner duty to never be a burden in any way prevents anyone from helping her in her fight. Grandma has only given love and caring to the world; she is always looking for the solution that will bring that inner warmth, that unbidden smile to your face, no matter the cost for her. She should be a model to us all. She is undeniably a hero to her family and relatives, but most of all her lifestyle has never stopped being a guiding influence in the life of her grandson.