Rise Up and Walk...

Grandma Smith. My first memory of her began with her wheels and my uncles' feet coming down our front stairs. I watched in awe in the living room as she was being carried like Cleopatra herself down to the living room. She said a polite thank you, expressionless. I was impressed.
I remember a look she had where you felt like your mind was an opened book. I remember her as a pillar of morality when she lifted a finger to guide me (the remainder of her fingers were clasping a rosary) towards mom who was putting away groceries and simply said. "Help your mother." Not at all in a scolding tone, but rather in a way your conscience might sound. Basically, I knew my boundaries, around her and for awhile I was nervous to be alone with her. I really felt like she could read my mind. I was also quite intimidated by her wheelchair. I really do remember feeling nervous...
Mom, Claire, and I were visiting Grandma, Grandpa, and Grandma Smith. I don't recall the turn of events that led to it, but in the morning I went downstairs to an empty house, or so I thought. I walked past Grandma Smith's room and heard, "Maureen come in here." She was watching TV and I timidly sat on the chair closest to the door in case I had to run for help. We talked for awhile. Small talk. She was sitting in front of the TV with an afghan across her legs. She asked me if I was hungry. "No, no, not at all," (lie) I should have known better... she could read my soul. Instead of responding she wheeled herself, into the kitchen i cautiously followed her and slipped onto a chair. "Do you like Cheerios?" "Yes but I can get it when I'm hungry, don't worry." The cereal was on a shelf to high for us to reach. She knew it and I knew it. So I reassured her again that I wasn't hungry. She wheeled right in front of the shelf, making me very nervous. She began to stand up. Panic took over my body and mind. If she fell or slipped out of her chair, I would be helpless. But, as if Jesus Himself had commanded her to, she rose up out of her chair and stepped forward to the shelf and made me a bowl of cereal. I was dumbstruck. At that time I truly felt that I witnessed a miracle. I wish I could have seen my expression. After she gave it to me, she sat down (the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away). We talked all through breakfast and until Grandma, mom, and Claire came home. After that experience, I loved talking to her when i was around her and asking her questions. Although we never directly discussed it, I knew only we shared the experience of her brief miracle.