Be kind and loving to me,

That's how I would have treated you.

Remember I was once someone's parent or spouse, I had a life and a dream for the future.

Speak to me, I can hear you even if I don't understand what you are saying.

Speak to me of things in my past of which I can still relate.

Be considerate of me, my days are such a struggle.

Think of my feelings because I still have them and can feel pain.

Treat me with respect because I would have treated you that way.

Think of how I was before I got Alzheimer's; I was full of life, I had a life, laughed and loved you.

Think of how I am now, my disease distorts my thinking, my feelings, and my ability to respond, but I still love you even if I can't tell you.

Think about my future because I used too.

Remember I was full of hope for the future just like you are now.

Think how it would be to have things locked in your mind and can't let them out.

I need you to understand and not blame me, but Alzheimer's.

I still need the compassion and the touching and most of all I still need you to love me.

Keep me in your prayers because I am between life and death.

The love you give will be a blessing from God and both of us will live forever.

How you live and what you do today will always be remembered in the heart of the Alzheimer's Patient.

- by Carolyn Haynali ©3/10/00

I see my Mother the way she used to be: rustling in taffeta, hair done, perfumed, clipping on her earrings and reaching for her evening bag, joining Dad for an evening celebration with friends...they were magnificent, I thought....I can still catch the scent of Je Reviens...I watched them prepare for a gala evening, mesmerized by their preparations....so sophisticated, but probably our age now....That's how I remember them...my late Dad and now my Mom, sticken with Alzeimer's...holding a teddy-bear with such gentleness....Lord....your ways are mysterious, indeed......and so difficult to fathom.....