My Saving Grace

I was planning on attending a birthday party for a 90-year old woman on
February 21st.  I've known her since the mid-1980s, so felt I should
attend.  She's sent Christmas cards every year up until now (she's decided
to stop since her husband died a few years back and it doesn't feel the same
sending them out anymore) and has always talked to my parents (whom she sees
much more often than me since I left the organization we were all involved with
back then) about my wife and children.

90 years old!  I decided to explain to my daughter exactly how long
90 years is and the best method I could come up with was drawing dots on her
whiteboard.  I started with 4 pink dots explaining to her that those
represented how old she is. 1 dot for her being born, 1 for when she started
walking, 1 for when she started Sunday School, and a 4th dot for her upcoming
birthday.  I then *sigh* added another 26 green dots explaining that the 4
pink and 26 green dots represented how old I am and everything I've done in my
life.  I added some orange dots to represent my wife's age and finally
continued on and on and on to finally hit 90 dots and showing her just how long
this lady had been living.

My daughter looked at me and asked how old her grandmother is... and that's when
it struck me...

OH CRAP!!  It's my mother's birthday!!

My daughter --my saving grace.