"I'm too old and it's too late," which played over and over in my mind. I was 1 and exhausted after ending my marriage and my law career at the same time. 2 my ambition to become a writer, I 3 my ability to succeed as one. Had I wasted years going 4 the wrong goals? I was at a low point 5 the voice on the radio began 6 the story of Grandma Moses. Ann Mary Moses left home at thirteen, bore ten children and worked hard to raise the five who 7 . Struggling to make a living on poor farms, she managed to 8 a bit of beauty for herself by embroidering ( 绣花 ) on cloth. At seventy-eight, her fingers became 9 awkward to hold a needle. 10 give in to aging, she went out to an empty room and began to 11 . For the first two years, these paintings were either given away or sold 12 a little money. But at the age of seventy-nine, she was "discovered" by the 13 world---and the rest is 14 . She went on to produce more than two thousand paintings, 15 her book illustrations ( 插图 ) for It was the Night before Christmas were completed in her one-hundredth year! 16 I listened to the radio, my 17 changed. If Grandma Moses 18 begin a new career and succeed after eighty, my life still had 19 after thirty. Before the program ended, I rushed to my computer to work on the novel I'd nearly 20 .