Grace

"What is grace?" I asked God. And he said, "All that happens," St. John of the Cross.

Gracious comes from the Latin word gratia, meaning grace. Webster gives the meaning of grace as "seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement or form, a quality pleasing for its charm or refinement, good will" So, "all that happens -- is grace", and grace is "good will". To live with dementia graciously, then, is to live with good will toward ourselves and the one to whom we give care, it is to live with the characteristics of elegance and good will.

It helps me to know what I am aiming for.