Parents

It's true I'm missing you
As I stand alone in your room
Everyday that will pass you by
Every name that you won't recall
Everything that you made by hand
Everything that you know by heart
And I will try to connect
All the pieces you left
I will carry it on
And let you forget
And I'll remember the years
When your mind was clear
How the laughter and life
filled up this silent house

M has to fly to Puerto Rico this weekend because they need to put her Mom into a Care Facility for Alzheimer's Patients.

These are those moments in life when you become the parent to your own parents and need to look out for them as they did for us when we were young and vulnerable.

J was a school teacher in Puerto Rico. She received her degree later in life, after her kids were grown because it was something she wanted to do. You have to admire that. Even though Puerto Rico isn't a backward island, in her lifetime, women were almost expected to stay home and raise the children and not go to work. Well, when she was done with that...she decided it was her time for her life and she went out and went to college.

The very first time I met J was 2 weeks after Hurricane Georges hit the island. Most of the island was still without power, and they were still in the early phases of the clean up. I remember when we were landing and all of the leaves were stripped off the trees and plants which made it look like the island was hit with a massive fire. M gave her Mom a CD of some 80's pop tunes and she started singing and dancing as she read the names of the songs on the CD. J loves to sing and dance. I think that is what makes her the happiest.

On that same trip, their apartment was on the 8th floor of an apartment building. They only had power for emergency items such as their refrigerators etc. The elevator was not working, so we had to walk up 8 flights of stairs. She was in her 60's at the time, I was still in my 30's. She walked up those stairs without sweating a bead. I was huffing and puffing and thought my lungs were going to collapse and my knees were going to give out.

So now, this once strong vital and sharp woman is slowly turning into a child by a disease that robs children of their parents not once...but twice. First is that they don't always remember who you are and of course the second will be when she leaves us completely.

M is sad and scared and although she does not want to move back to Puerto Rico, wishes that she lived closer so she can visit her Mom more often.

M wonders if her Mom will recognize her when she sees her.

We put together a little photo album of us and the dogs and our house that she can take with her to her new home. She may not always remember who the faces in the photos are, but I think she will enjoy looking at them. I'll probably put some pictures of flowers in there too...she loves flowers.

I wish I could go with M, but this is something she needs to do with her family and I may just add some confusion to her Mom and I don't' want to do that.

I will be here when she gets back and hold her because these are those times when words just won't be what is needed.