1. Dementia
Help me to remember
What I forget each day.
Don't let the dementia
Take my memories away.
Published: November 2019
November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. It was first established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. At that time, less than two million people suffered from the disease. It has now grown to over five million patients in the United States alone. Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, there are treatments that help slow down the progression of the disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association has wonderful resources on their website about signs of Alzheimer’s, tips for living with the disease, help for caregivers, information on research and getting involved with support groups.
Whether you have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or have a loved one fighting this disease, we hope these poems will remind you that you are not facing this alone.
November is also National Family Caregivers Month. There are millions of people who care for their loved ones. These people selflessly make sacrifices to care for those with special needs, chronic illnesses, disabilities, and aging bodies and minds. This month is a time to honor family caregivers and give them the support they need.
Be sure to check out our other Aging Poems.
Help me to remember
What I forget each day.
Don't let the dementia
Take my memories away.
in Aging Poems
I see the sadness in your eyes,
The times that you are knowing
What's happening to your wondrous mind,
The symptoms you are showing.
Memories! I was 53, he 54 when the complications of Alzheimer's took him. At his prime as an exporter, his secretary fell for him. I left and visited Canada for 3 months, but on my return,...
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in Father Poems
I remember the times
You'd flip me onto your shoulder
Freefalling skyward
Taller, older
This poem so reminds me of the relationship my Daddy and I had. He had a major surgery in 1971 and because of that and the effects of the anesthesia, his decline began. It took a while for us...
Your time has come to leave us, Mum.
Dad called you back to him.
The ballroom floor is ready
For your dancing to begin.
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in Dying Poems
When dementia creeps in through the back door,
Loving is needed, like never before...
An expressionless face, an empty heart,
Each day you come and see me, I wonder who you are.
You seem so happy to sit beside me and give away your time.
As you tell me stories, I sit there in a dreamlike state of mind.
I don't know if I knew you, so many memories have passed me by.
My mind is not what it once was:
wilting like a rose.
One thing you must remember:
this is not the life I chose.
Sometimes you just NEED a break. My parents' assisted living center is short on staff, and I'm trying to be there more. Last night I fed them BOTH and then (with my horrible back with tumors...
The clarity of my mind has faded.
Those vibrant thoughts, slowly washed away.
Memories once so strong, are now so distant.
Names of those I held so dear, escape me now.
I and (I'm guessing many hundreds of thousands of) others know exactly what you mean first-hand.
She resides in a home, sits in a chair,
Nothing to bother her, make her worry or care.
Caretakers to help her wash and dress,
Doing all that they can not to cause her distress.
Hello. I can so relate to what you have said. and of course more than what you have said. My Dad got dementia when he was 83. He wouldn't accept that he needed help and I would take weeks...
When the time came again to visit her there,
He'd feel that dark sense of despair.
He could already picture her sweet, gentle face,
Marred by that sad, empty stare.
My fiance and the love of my life had passed from cancer one year ago. My heart is forever scared, but I must go on with my life and raise my four-year-old daughter.
in Aging Poems
Nancy Reagan once said, "Alzheimer's is just another word for a long goodbye"
Doctor's told us that Alzheimer's is a horrible disease that strips you of your dignity and pride.
Nurses told us that some go back to their childhood and some act like they're five.
And we have all said, "We love her so much," but she has changed; she's just not the same.
My dear grandma, Doris, left us in January. She left an awful heartache in our hearts. She let an impression on me and all my family. She was a beautiful woman with a heart of gold. Friendly...
There are times when things seem normal again
We laugh and talk about trivial things
We enjoy each other's company
But we can't deny the thought in our minds
Thank you so much for both of your comments on two of my poems. I wrote both from my heart and experience as I do all my poems. It is rewarding to know that I was able to convey my feelings...
in Aging Poems
Locked in this place
I want to go home
Surrounded with people
But I am all alone
in Aging Poems
There is stillness in my mind, molecules no longer attract each other.
I peer inside, the words no longer come to me.
A void instead has taken shape
An emptiness of forlorn dread has filled the space that once was me.
in Aging Poems
Every morning
He helps her get up,
Get ready for a day
That she may not remember tomorrow.
in Aging Poems
Pain is watching yourself fade into a helpless person.
Pain is not being able to do what you did yesterday.
Pain is not remembering what you did and why or where you bought things.
Pain is not being able to see the flowers or the children on the other side of the room.
No story, just a big thank-you.
Reading some of your stories made me cry. Lives touched, afraid of the future, of what might be. But together it won't be so hard.
Thank-you
She lovingly handles
her mother with care
as she washes and curls
and fixes her hair.
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