The beauy that once was
The memories that remain
Of what used to be
Of you, dear Nan
The way you laughed
Your mischievious smile
The twinkle in your eyes
You never lost your sense of humour
Through all your pain
Amidst your confusion
You still hold on
In your world
Smiling
At us,
Or memories?

Holding onto the past
It's all you recognise
These people
Unfamiliar people
Gather around
Flashes of light
As they take photographs
And you smile absently
Lost in the confusion of everything
This was not how you remembered them -
Your family
Weren't they much younger?
Children even?
And your husband,
How the years have aged him,
And father - where was your father?
But you continued to smile
At all the new faces
Some seemed familiar
But looked older -
Oh, must be getting old
Memory's not what it used to be....

And these smiling faces
They're always there -
On every occasion
Giving hugs and kisses
And lots of love
They remember....

We remember, Nan,
And we saw your confusion
But we tried to make you happier
Sharing stories with you
That you remember
Even though you'd long forgotten us
We understood
But we knew you tried
To recognise
To remember
But we understood
We just hope you knew
That these faces you saw around you
Love you
And will never forget you....

© Christina
28th May, 1997

Dedicated to my Nan who had Alzheimers and passed away on 27th May, 1997