and I remember when I was nine
she taught me to play gin rummy
sitting around the table at my grandparents' house in Gaithersburg
with my father's three orange paintings on the walls.

she let me win that first game, then said
"now you know how to play, Jesse, I'm not going to let you win again."
so we played a few more hands before dinner
and I think she let me win a few anyway.

then nearly twenty years later, not so long ago
Rose still alive, playing gin rummy in the kosher old folks' home
so happy to see me, though she
only recognized me by my size.

she recognized me the same way some time later
her hundredth birthday party, and
(thanks to my sister's oversight)
five generations together to celebrate.

she was so frail then, and so proud
maitriarch of our family for so many years
I wish I had asked more questions when she could hear them.

My great-grandmother Rose died a few months ago, at the age of 100.

(originally published at http://www.swinney.org/journals/article.phtml?id=3777)