Poems That Bring Awareness To Alzheimer's Disease

My beautiful mum passed away on the January 20, 2020. I looked after mum at home for 10 years and then mum was placed in a care facility where she was for 3 years.

I always felt that of the over 500 poems that I have written, this one was the most insightful as it was written when my older sister started through this pattern. Now, at 92, I am watching myself carefully and thanking God I am still OK. I'm also glad that I lived through the era when music was music and poetry was rhythm and rhyme. I am grateful for my file of special letters from people from all over the world who read my poetry and let me know they were amused, comforted, or inspired.

I wrote this poem to raise awareness of people suffering from dementia. I work as a caregiver, and until starting this job, I didn't understand much about dementia or how it affected people. I would like to share my newfound knowledge with others and ensure that everyone knows that it isn't just "being forgetful" or "being difficult" and that it is just as distressing for those suffering as it is for those around them.

This poem is about the pain of watching someone loved so very much just slowly fade away.

This poem is about a man watching his wife fade away due to Alzheimer's Disease

My mum has been suffering from dementia for 4 years and is now in a residential home. She is 84, and up until the age of 78, she was still working and driving. She doesn't remember her husband or myself and my 2 sisters. In fact, there is no recognition in her memory of the life she had before the dementia. It seems such a cruel disease to wipe out a person's life completely that it inspired me to write this poem. I am sure it will relate to a lot of people experiencing this "loss" of a loved one.

My father and I have always been close; when I was young, he would take me on drives to record stores and football games, anywhere and everywhere we'd go together. Recently he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, and slowly, day by day, he's losing what makes him my father. I wrote this poem as an ode to the memory of the man he once was, before it all. I read it to him from time to time, and he smiles and asks me who wrote it. I always say, "A girl who loves her father dearly."

I wrote this poem for my mother, who passed away on Valentine's Day 2010. Alzheimer's was part of our family for ten years, and I wanted my family to know that even though she had this horrible disease, it couldn't destroy her love for us or our love for her.

This poem is about Alzheimer's patients.