A Loved One’s Lost Memories
By Larry G Gulledge
Since my beloved wife has disappeared
I shed many lonesome tears.
It’s so very sad when I reminisce
To happier times I fervently miss.
The journey is agonizingly slow
For those of us who love her so.
Sometimes there is a tinge of joy
When her mind seems to know
A face or voice that touches her soul.
That magic moment does not last
And we mourn for more memories of the past
That might include our family’s cast.
Instead we hear a sometimes endless chatter
Of scattered tales from her early travels
That makes us numb from stories that no longer matter.
Yet, she continues to enjoy the present minute
And then forgets it as her brain welcomes an earlier tenant.
She loves her children and grandchildren too
But she often forgets who they belong to.
As a caregiver I can become impatient
And wish God would intervene and make my life more serene.
Then when she takes my hand to her lips
With hands that tremble from too many troubled years
I realize that if she were gone I’d still have those lonesome tears.