I wrote this in High School just after my Meme passed away. She had Alzheimer's. I recently thought I lost all of my copies of this. Now that I've found one, I wanted to make sure I had it in a place I could get to it in case I happen to lose that copy too.
When I little, we were very close.
She was always there for me.
She never showed any anger,
A cure was not meant to be.
My dad, aunts and uncle all called her "Mom".
I always knew her as "Meme";
All the other children could say "Grandma".
A cure was not meant to be.
She got married young and had her first child.
She was only sixteen.
Never fulfilling her education,
A cure was not meant to be.
Her short-lived life was many times a struggle,
For the future she could not see.
She would only live to be sixty-four.
A cure was not meant to be.
She raised four children,
As well as can be.
They all looked up to her,
A cure was not meant to be.
Always unselfish,
As sweet as can be,
Thinking of herself last,
A cure was not meant to be.
The doctor revealed the diagnosis,
How could this be?
My "Meme" would soon be gone.
A cure was not meant to be.
Seven years of watching her go downhill.
Soon she wouldn't even know me.
We all hated to watch her suffer,
A cure was not meant to be.
Slowly losing her communication.
In her eyes we could always see,
Her anger and her happiness.
A cure was not meant to be.
As she laid on her death bed,
We told her to set herself free,
From the pain and the sorrow,
A cure was not meant to be.
Her killer was named "Alzheimer's".
It took away "Meme".
Silenced her existence.
Now, she is free.
Reading it now, I feel like it could use some adjusting to flow better, but I can't do it. So I guess it is what it is. It will be 13 years ago in Nov since she's passed. This poem makes me feel like it happened yesterday. I wish my boys would have had the chance to know her. She would have LOVED having great grandkids.
