No one noticed at first
Sloughing off, his mind
Except his wife, of course
Who had to cope as best she may
As so slowly he slipped away.
Just when he left is hard to tell
As something about his shell
Seemed it might just retain
A hint of who he once had been
But by the end, it was gone unseen.
They had cared for others, he a man of God
And raised a family and flock together
Overseas to serve, one place cold
The other hot, until their, quite overdue
Time for a rural retirement quietude.
Short changed it was and soon confused
He took to wandering to find a church
Where he could do his pastoral duty
Then wander and wonder why he’d been
So bars on windows came on the scene.
Then drugs to ease the burden, slightly
Except by now lack of inhibition nightly
A magazine he would use to smite his wife
It wasn’t the worst thing for her to bear
‘Where is the man I love, that I now fear?’
Side effects gave a sweet tooth and theft
Of cakes when he escaped was in order
From an understanding baker down the road
Occasional respite given in a psycho ward
Among the outcasts vulnerable he’d board.
Lord alone knows how she coped, but she did.
She took it all, frail though she became
And hardly ever known to complain
Except to pray that his mind was now with God
And please not long for the rest under the sod.
Sadly In the end his kidney failed and almost
Gladly all that remained was laid in the ground
By family and those who remembered him well.
She missed him, but could not resolve
The mystery of when he really went.
rjdaniels©2010
This is a true story of older friends both gone now. Dementia is a family affair with the burden falling on those who themselves are becoming frail and tired.
Waking the Baby 