A friend of the couple who founded Home Instead Senior Care, Mary Maxwell was asked to give the invocation at the home care organisation's 2009 Convention in the United States. Initially it seemed like a normal prayer, but it soon took a very funny turn. Her deadpan delivery and lines like …This is the first time I’ve ever been old… and it just sort of crept up on me … soon had the Home Instead Senior Care team rolling in the aisles. With the timing of a professional comedian, Mary shines a very funny light on the foibles of ageing, to the delight of this audience of elder care experts.

You can watch Mary Maxwell's comic prayer here and you can also download a copy of the poem Blessed In Ageing (PDF 275k), which Mary reads at the end of her prayer.