"A Forgotten Life" a poem by Linda Harrison. I work around folks with dementia, this was poignant for me
She resides in a home, sits in a chair
Nothing to bother her, make her worry or care.
Caregivers to help her wash and dress
Doing all that they can not to cause her distress.
She smiles and accepts the care that they give
the meals and the medicines she depends on to live.
Her mind should have memories both good and bad
Why can't she remember the life she once had.
Not aware of the people who came to see her today
or what they told her, or how long the stay.
Family and friends she no longer knows
Just a flicker of remembrance occasionally shows.
The memories are gone, now just a blank empty space
Remembering nothing she had before she came to this place.
Is she sad and afraid, she can't let us know
Because these are emotions she's unable to show.
All that's changed is her mind, she is still there
The same person for whom I always will care.
I'll always remember what she means to me
Because she's my mum, who else could she be.
"A Forgotten Life"
by
Linda Harrison
Aug 2014
Windows and Walls by Dan Fogelberg
Up every morning Long before day
Cooking her breakfast alone
She quietly dresses And pulls up the shades
And sits in the chair by
The phone.
But nobody ever comes By anymore
Nobody ever calls
Most days she sits and just stares
At the windows and walls
Windows and walls.
Children all married Husband's passed on
Nothing but time on her hands
Most of her mornings Are spent in her dreams
Or making her sad little plans.
Maybe she'll go to the Corner today
And pick up the new McCalls
If just to escape for an hour
From her windows and walls
Windows and walls.
The clock on the mantel Chiming the hours
Must be the loneliest sound
She washes her dishes And waters her flowers
And afterwards has to sit down.
Sometimes she still can Remember a child
Playing with china dolls... Now all that she's left
Are these memories and
Windows and walls
Windows and walls
(day after day)
Windows and walls.
Dan Fogelberg
I am a CNA, as well as a musician. I work in Nursing homes, where I am around
Persons with dementia. I have it in my family as well.
These two things, the poem and the song, tear at my heartstrings.
I love this, my grandparents have dimentia and I work for an agency that prosecutes those that harm those with dimentia. Thank you for posting!
You're welcome @eaglespirit, I work, both as an entertainer and as a Certified Nursing Assistant in facilities and around persons with dementia; there has got to be a special place in hell for anyone who would abuse one of them
I totally agree! My agency goes after CNAs that abuse and neglect. LOL
I’m
Glad to see you are a good egg 🥚🤣🙌🏽
Oh I could go on for quite a while.... I really do try to do the right thing, always.
I look for ways to help others, especially if it is within my means. I am quite
Low income (hence my presence here, trying to make a few cents ¢ for
What I was/am doing on FB for free. Still, like the widow who gave
A few cents, which was all she had, I feel sure I will be blessed
Greatly in the long run. Sorry to get all 'religious' on you 😇