Activity time: 20 minutes

Welcome participants as they arrive. Invite them to wear their name tags and to place their special objects on the cloth around the chalice. Encourage them to chat over lunch. As lunchtime draws to a close, share the poem “On Aging” from AND STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou, copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

When you see me sitting quietly, like a sack upon a shelf,

Don’t think I need your chattering. I’m listening to myself.

Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me! Hold! Stop your sympathy!

Understanding if you got it, otherwise I’ll do without it!

When my bones are stiff and aching and my feet won’t climb the stair,

I will only ask one favor: Don’t bring me no rocking chair.

When you see me walking, stumbling, don’t study and get it wrong.

’Cause tired don’t mean lazy and every goodbye ain’t gone.

I’m the same person I was back then, a little less hair, a little less chin,

A lot less lungs and much less wind.

But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.