Remembering...MimiCan't stop thinking about memory
Memories
Where they are stored and for how long?
When do they start to slip away?
When they start to slip away.
Watching my aunt not know what day it is
Or care who is the president of these United States
Seeing her life becoming void of what needs to be done
Sitting and wondering out loud why her husband looks old?
His kind and gentle look back at her
so full of love and knowing
The she he married and loved these many, many years,
is not the she who sits before him any longer
Body wasting away
mind half gone
memory a thing of the past never to return again
What must that be like for him, for her?
He who understands his losses
The pain in that, the acceptance of what he cannot change
She, oblivious now, not even getting agitated
except while trying to drape
a pair of "someone else's pants size sixteen not mine too big"
over a hanger and their slick
fabric refusing to lie balanced
without help
so she can hang them up again
something she can
do!
It is so sad to watch our loved ones slowly fade away. Remember the love.
ReplyDeleteSad when loved ones can no longer remember you or their mates when their mates can remember just fine. Its like losing them twice.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the notebook? With James Gardner and Gena Rowlands? Its about this. Getting old isnt for Sissies. She does have loved ones who care and are there for her. Thats the good thing even if its sad for them.
I have also experienced this and wondered the same thing. I don't think there are any answers, just memories of better times.
ReplyDeleteShe was certainly a beautiful woman!
Oh Your Posts About your Aunt and Uncle are so bittersweet. But its reality, and it needs to be said. I cried sooo hard in "the notebook", and thats ONLY a movie. Prayers to you and your family in these tough times. I am with Teri...she was most beautiful when she was young, and I am sure she still is.xxx
ReplyDeleteI know this very well, I have lost my grandparents and parents over time. The life of someone you love is so sweet, and to know they are fading away is so hard. I will always remember the love, the laughter, the hugs and kisses, the smile that is for me only.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Mary
Oh Lynn,
ReplyDeleteI have seen this with my parents too. My father was so fragile before he died and my Mom is in the same state as your aunt.
But How sad I still love to read about your aunt and uncle because it is so full of love .
Your aunt was beautiful as a young girl but she still is so incredibly beautiful! Both pictures illustrate that beauty has no age.
Wish I could say something comforting to you but it is as Teri says.
Enjoy the moments you still have together.
♥♥♥
>M<
Such a beautifully observed and written memory of your aunt and uncle. Poignant. Being human, such a odd thing isnt it. But of course, in some ways its good we change through the years. We wouldnt want to stay babies forever. But those changes are joyful. The changes that come with aging are often so sad.
ReplyDeleteThis is happening to my dad too, a very slow and painful process to see, though also a return to innocence in some strange way.
ReplyDeleteShe is a beautiful woman!
what an absolute beauty,then and now.she has lived to a fantastic old age, and them still being together is amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt is all sad, but she seems to be happy in her world - is that so?
ReplyDeleteSo beautifully written Lynn.
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard for your Uncle to see her but not see 'her.'
She's a beautiful lady and lucky to have you in her life.
I know you feel blessed my her every day.
hugs...
oh lynn, this is beautiful. so you write poetry. this is certainly poetry.
ReplyDeletemy mother turned 94 today and her memory is almost all gone. but she knows me and the small circle of people she loves and in the present moment she is fully present. i am lucky we can laugh about it.
it's when the person is lost and gone that sadness overtakes.
you have described something we all face, our brave efforts to cope, and i thank you for it.
love
kj
Humble thank you to each of you for commenting here.
ReplyDelete