Graceful Hands
From the characteristic meaning of graceful have two sides, complete with showing a pleasing beauty of form, movement or manner and pleasing in both style and attitude. I think this two meaning are suitable at Section A. The hands of the old woman not only have a graceful hand from outside, and her heart is also graceful.
Graceful appear two times at this essay. First, in the Para gage 6. At that situation, the medical worker providing the normal treatment to the ill, after doing that, she find out the "graceful hands" of the old woman. Because the fingers of the ill were long thin, just like some people who play music and did a lot of housework (in my opinion). So after that, the writer thought about the old woman's family. Maybe from the hands, the writer thought the ill must be an elegant woman when she was young, and then wonder why there's not anyone care about her and watch her at that moment. The writer began to feel a little pity to the patient.
Just at that time, Mrs. Clark as a mind reader that blew away the cloud of the medical worker that tells her the truth, which her family was not beyond her. It is the first time, the ill use some way to communicate with the writer. From that time, they began to intercommunicate nonverbal but through the feeling of two hands and the eyes contract between them. The writer learned a lot from that "talking".
After the ill died, the writer began to have some emotional battle inside. She knew that the reason why the old woman did not allow her family to spend the last moment with her was that she did not want to spare the pain of her passing to her family. Even though she must leave, she also had a good heart that want the remain person can feel more happy. The kind of decision is graceful. No one want to die alone, however, for not to make her family feel painful the old woman choose the quite way to die with a changer who she just met for a short time. God bless her, she chooses a hard way for herself, but thinking about other most of time. Such angle like woman, wasn't she graceful? The writer could not be influential from her. In addition, this was just part of truth about the ill, and the others were shown out after two days.
The writer found the patient was not only thinking about others at the end of her life, but also doing such graceful thing all her life. She was mother of seven, grandmother of eighteen, an active member of her church, a leader of volunteer association in her community, a concert piano player, and a piano teacher for over thirty years. No wonder her hands was so long and thin, because she was a great mother, grandmother, piano player and piano teacher.
How the writer can't be moved by this?!
When I met the title –graceful hand– for the first time, I thought it must be a story talking about why there's graceful hand and how it was. But after reading, I realized it's more than that. I even feel a little pressure and sad after reading. The old woman was really a great angle, the angle with graceful hand that her hand was healing all the sin all her life. She selected to die silence instead of with her family because she didn't want to spare her family the pain of her passing, and she would rather suffer all things by herself and maybe with the stranger. However, there's an antinomy in my stomach, why such a great person should die alone, she should accept all the admire from others. She must be a well known woman, however the end of her life was as common as others, I think she did deserve of this. Yet all things have two sides, we can't benefit them at one time.
After reading this, I think a lot. I compare myself with her, what will be when I am dying? Can I make such graceful decision?
