Diane Woodruff had her whole world turned upside down when her mother developed Alzheimers. She cared for her mother for five years before she died. Diane joined a poetry/writing group with Frances Kakugawa and learned that writing about some of her strong feelings and experiences helped her cope with the devastating effects of Alzheimers.
If I bring her books to read
If I play her music
If I sing her favorite songs with her
If I find the right medication
She might lose that vacant stare and smile once more
She smiled, she is back for awhile …
Oh, how I love to see that smile
But then she is gone again
If I take her for a walk
If I do the right activities
If I find the right puzzle
I might get my mother back
I try everything
Nothing seems to slow the deadening grip of Alzheimer’s
All I can do is accept its inevitable progression
And final outcome
I don’t want to accept it
I want to fight it
I’m trying
But it is winning
And I am losing
I hate this disease
