Breakfast on Christmas morning

My Grandmother Ate the Heels of the Bread

Even on Christmas morning
when the rest of us ate bacon, eggs, buttered toast, and Christmas cookies
my Grandmother ate the heels of the bread.

As the radio played Christmas carols,
Santa Claus is coming to Town,
All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth,
Grandma would cook breakfast,
after toasting and buttering our bread
she removed the heels
from the bread sack of heels
we always saved for her.

Grandma would toast the heels,
spread butter and strawberry preserves
on each slice
then, as Grandpa shook his head,
she ate the heels of the bread.

Grandpa, none of us,
understood Grandma’s sacrifice,
we comprehended the sacrifice of Christ,
but the small daily sacrifices Grandma made
we did not understand
until too late
to say: “Thank you!”