Eleven From Four

In the fullness of a casual encounter
can be revealed the vital details
and sum total of someone's life.
She pointed out to her two young
charges the presence of my
toy poodle in his carry-bag
ensconced within the supermarket
shopping cart and I remarked how
fortunate she was with two
grandchildren, resulting in a
cascade of revelation. For these
were only the most recent of the
offspring of her own four children.
She was blessed by fortune, she
smiled, with nine others. Working
one full-time and two part-time 
jobs she ensured, with scant
formal education of her own and
as a single mother abandoned by
her children's father, that her
children completed their education.
College-educated, all, she smiled 
beneficently in the amplitude of her 
very own satisfaction with life. Her 
reward amply returned in no fewer 
than eleven from the four; quite an 
enviable return on investment.