What does it mean to walk gracefully? Last Thursday, three generations of family discussed an array of topics while sitting around a table dotted with dessert plates and dirty forks. The eldest woman at the table described the day she realized she would never walk gracefully again. It was not in a tone of remorse that she told her story. She is after all, a very optimistic woman. The woman recalled instances of walking down the sidewalk and catching a glimpse of her reflection in a storefront. She would sometimes think to herself, "oh my, is that really how I look when I walk?" The elderly do tend to exhibit a slower, stiffer gait, but who's to say that this style of walking does not possess its own sort of gracefulness.
This woman who claims that she will never walk gracefully again is a woman who is more articulate and full of life than any woman of her age I have ever known. This is a woman who was a teenager during the 1930's, endured the Great Depression, and witnessed the glories and fads of nearly all of the distinct decades of the last century. The gait of old age that she has adopted by no choice of her own should be fully embraced. She is a woman of great dignity, with an abundance of wisdom to impress on others.
Her slow, purposeful movement is nothing if not graceful.
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