Grace

I am not graceful. But I know it when I see it.

When I was young, my dad used to say I was the only person he knew who could trip on the cracks in linoleum.

More often than not, my head was in the clouds and my nose was in a book. I paid little attention to where I was putting my feet. Which helps to explain some of those trips to the emergency room.

I'm a klutz. I trip, I fall, I bang into things, I bump my head. I bruise my skin.

Yeah. I'm pretty much the polar opposite of physical grace.

I've always admired the physical grace of athletes and dancers and the like.

But Iive discovered there are many forms of grace

In my former life as a reporter, I met

a man who was paralyzed from the neck down in a childhood accident, but who created the most beautiful pen-and-ink drawings by holding a pen in his mouth. And I saw the grace in his love of life and his ability to see beauty in unexpected places.

I've done ride-alongs with firefighters and paramedics and police officers who risk thier lives for the safety of others. And I saw the grace in their courage and their love of their calling.

I've met doctors who have turned away from "easy" practices to bring desperately needed medical care and supplies to poverty-sticken people for whom those services literally mean life and death. And I see the grace in his unwavering dedication to caring for others and his refusal of any rewards or recognition.

I've met teachers who have "adopted" a school in poorest rural Africa and whose donations of money, clothes, bikes, and school supplies are the only thing supporting the education of an entire village of children.

These people all have within them a grace and style that shone so brightly and, truly, humbles me.

They show me - and everyone else they com into contact with - that grace is not about dancing on toes or putting a ball in a basket ... it's about compassion and selflessness and little, consistent, unnecessary kindnesses.

Perhaps there is hope for me yet.


Photos: Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly,