I know you no longer know who I am
Not really, but that's okay,
I know I'm still important to you,
And you to me - more every day.

Though I may no longer be your daughter --
Sometimes your sister, sometimes your wife,
You will always be my father,
My hero for all of my life.

I never understood
Just how unfair life could be,
Until this thing called Alzheimer's
Came and stole you from family.

Now I shed so many tears
For you, for me, for Mom,
Some days I don't know where to turn
Or where I maybe could run.

So we go on trudging helplessly,
Beside you all the way,
Thankful for the small blessings
We still share with you come what may.

I pray for the strength to go on,
In the dreaded days beyond,
As you become less and less of the man we knew,
And still are the man we all love.

Copyright © 1999 Julie Western-Zuge
Used with permission of the author.

Julie has written a series of poems for her father,
an Alzheimer's victim, and she is sharing them with
us here and on the previous and next page. Thank you so much,
Julie, for sharing.

Email Julie at: jwz@tznet.com