“Achieving Grace”

As a little girl, with my younger sister

I sang, using my mother’s hair brush

in front of my grandmother’s chiffarobe mirror

we were gonna be stars

me and my sister, there in the

air conditioned room my grandfather

slept in at night

but we transformed it to become

our stage

now, at 58, having accomplished

a healing miracle

I line my eyes like Curt Cobain

dance around my apartment, playing air guitar

wearing my Zombie Tools tee shirt

and yes, today, though I’m not on the radio

today, I am the rock star I always

wanted to be.

James Stansberry aka Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid

James is a Seattle writer/cancer warrior/psychic/medium.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

SHARING STORIES is featured on http://www.northwestprimetime.com, the website for Northwest Prime Time, a monthly publication for baby boomers, seniors, retirees, and those contemplating retirement. The newspaper can be found in the greater Seattle area and other Puget Sound locations. For more information, call 206-824-8600 or visit http://www.northwestprimetime.com. To find other SHARING STORIES articles on this website, type in “sharing stories” in the search function above.