I brought her home today God,
Back to a place where she had once trod
I think she knew maybe deep in her soul,
that this was a place that once made her whole.

Oh, how I long to see her smile
for I know the pain that goes with each mile
I remember the happy times of days gone by
and how too quickly they did fly

I see with the passing of every day
a little more of her is taken away
But while she is losing a little more from here
I know that closer to heaven she is drawing near

Still the pain of watching her slip away
lays heavy on my heart every single day
I know too God that you are near
and I really should not have anything to fear

But fear I do for her and for me
because you know I do not always see
the good there is in everything here
in losing the ones we hold so dear

When she reaches out and touches my hand
I feel the closeness and her love so grand
And when my name she speaks so soft
my soul soars higher and higher aloft

I guess what I want God is your grace in my pain
to ever remind me that my loss is her gain
Let me take those smiles and the gentle touch
and hold them in my heart where they mean so much

and never let me forget that you are at work here
even though in my darkest fear
I am losing a mother as you gain a child
let not your work ever be defiled

But forgive me God when I question why
for I know that you hold her and could help her fly
a faster journey to her home above
where there is no pain only total love.

Copyright © 1999 Brenda Race
Used with permission of the author.

Brenda was caregiver to her mother for a year
until her mother was placed in a nursing home in
December 1998. This poem was written seven months
later, on July 26, 1999. Brenda continued to visit her mother
regularly and to share hours with her until her
mothers death in December 1999. Brenda has posted
her beautiful poetry at A Window on My Mind
and it can be found in Insights at Alzheimer's
Outreach as well as at her own site,
Poems, Prayers and Promises.

Email Brenda at: brace47@charter.net