Once upon a time

There was an ordinary woman

Who lived an ordinary life

She married, had a family

Was a quiet, compliant wife

 

Then, quite suddenly, her husband

Of many years, grew ill and died

It was a time of shock and sadness

But she was brave and strong

Struggling on, in life’s injury time

A friend, a mum a grandma

 

All was well, until she changed, became confused

Thought she was losing her mind

While she was, losing her memory

There would be questions, questions…

Answers were met with

Another question…or confusion

 

There were tests and more tests

Then finally, a new doctor said

‘You have Dementia.’

The woman didn’t really understand, so…

He gave her lots of information

Too much information, pages of information

Which only caused more confusion

 

But help was to be at hand!

The woman was promised a CARE PLAN!

When the CARE PLAN arrived

IT WAS EMPTY!

This made the woman’s daughter cross

But the woman and her family

Struggled on alone

Everyone did their best

 

Until one day everything went wrong!

The woman, alone in her house, fell

Although she was in a lot of pain

She managed to get to a doctor

Who said she was fine,

But gave her some pain-killers

 

The pain grew very great

And although she had Dementia

That night she called an ambulance,

And was taken to Hospital

An X-Ray showed a broken bone; which healed

But no-one could mend her broken memory

The confusion grew worse, so she never returned,

To her lovely home

 

Her next home was called a CARE HOME

Perhaps here she would find some care

Which she did, but…

As the years passed by, the Dementia worsened

With it came confusion, beyond confusion

Frustration, fear and then anger

The anger made her Rage!

 

The woman could not remember

Where she was in her life

Was she a child? She wondered.

‘Where are my parents?’ she asked?

‘Am I an orphan?’ ‘Is that why I’m here?’

 

Her children visited, then one sad day;

She no longer knew who they were

‘I’m not your mother!’ she angrily told her daughter

‘I don’t know who you are!’

The daughter left, dismissed

Wearing a mask, of frozen tears

 

These were dark, difficult days

The woman grew more frail

As she neared the end of her life

Her frailty increased and her anger diminished

Although she struggled to recognise visitors

Occasionally she could see her little girl

In the face of her grown up daughter

 

As the woman’s life ebbed away

A great calm descended upon her

Now at peace

She fell into a deep, deep sleep

Then, early one spring morning

Her soul quietly left her tired body

As it did so, the room filled with sunshine