Dear Grandma Anne I don't know what I'm writing for I've got nothing to say That you haven't heard A million times before Dear Grandma Anne You would have liked it here I believe Next to the Boise River Under the aspen trees Where the ducks and the herons Make their homes And a few blocks away Your private thoughts Are written in stone Dear Grandma Anne Next year you would have been 75 I bet you'd still be spry And spunky as ever Dear Grandma Anne Where on earth did you find your faith? Where did you find The strength and hope to say That despite everything you'd been through People still seemed basically good to you? Dear Grandma Anne I am so ridiculous in my doubt What on earth is stopping me From letting my spirit out? Dear Grandma Anne Please be patient with me I have all the freedom in the world And yet I don't feel free There is still some hidden room within me Where I have forced something wild and beautiful to live silently Dear Grandma Anne You wrote that if you got out alive You would do something significant For all humankind Dear Grandma Anne I guess you got half of that wish And now I here I sit at the riverside With this precious life to live And your words enter in like a magic key May they unlock all the hope, and strength, and love in me May we all be free