"Every night, I see Mama, coming closer and closer," she said. She'd suffered great pain, now she was comfortable with the drugs Doctor had prescribed. Her skin was stretched tight over her cheekbones, yellowish. I did not expect that she would last much longer. It was with great effort that she would slide off the bed to creep into the bathroom. Independent, she wanted to remain so.

One day when I visited, she told me with great excitement that her daughter had complications of pregnancy and the baby would be coming sooner than they'd anticipated. All talk of Mama coming closer ceased. She did manage to hang on, and in three weeks, she had the baby lying in the crook of her arm and a beautific smile on her thin face when I visited.

Later when baby had gone home and we were alone, she confided, "You think you're ready, but you're not." I asked, "How is that so?"
"Why, the grandchildren, of course," she said. She managed to enjoy the grand children for longer than we would ever have believed possible as hours turned into the few days of joy the new grandchild gave her.