Again, O Lord, we are here to spend an afternoon with our fellow members. We are aware that at this time of life we are privileged to be still sharp of mind and sound of body; that we are able to leave our homes and travel about.

Unfortunately there are those upon whom age has laid a heavy hand. They are not able to get out, but must spend their days within confined walls.

For those unlucky shut-ins we want to offer this prayer:

May they find something in each day to bring them laughter; something to bring them pleasure; something to make them feel less alone; something to make them eager to greet another tomorrow.

O Lord, let them find reason each day to make them glad to be alive.

There are so many definitions for “glad.” There’s delight, gratitude, cheerful willingness, and pleasure. It’s a strange word. Flat and bland. Yet, it’s the word my grandmother Rose chose to associate with life – “glad to be alive.”

She gathered broad statements – “something in each day to bring them laughter,” and “something to make them feel less alone” – and tied them into a bouquet with a ribbon of “glad.”

In sense, Rose tied many incidents together with a ribbon of glad. After my father passed away, when I was nine, my grandparents would visit nearly every Saturday. I was thrilled to see my grandmother because of her ability to see the good in the bad and turn despair into hope.

I had a grim childhood — repressive, unyielding, forbidding, and dark. The bright spot was my grandmother. Seeing her every week, made me glad because she found a way to make me laugh, feel less alone, and most of all, gave me the courage to face another tomorrow, and believe someday everything would be better.