I wish I could have told you
All the things I couldn't say ---
Of how important you are to me
It's always been that way.

You were the brunt of my abuse
And blamed yourself ----The more
I argued and antagonized
Added to the load you bore.

You must believe I didn't mean
The cruel words I said ---
Nor would I ever willfully
Punish you, or inflict dread.

Deep down, you knew, I'd lost control
This was not really 'me' ---
You longed to see me 'come alive'
Yet, this was not meant to be.

I've followed you, as you've progressed
To finally gain your dreams ---
All your hard work and sacrifice
God's blessed - Indeed, it seems.

We've both moved on to greater sights
Each, to prosper, where we're called ---
Remember - I'm within your heart
And I love you --- Most of all.....

Copyright © 1998 Dorothy Womack
Used with permission of the author.

Dorothy wrote this poem for me on January 29, 1999,
writing it as my what my mother would say to me.
Again, Dorothy's poetry brings me to tears, and
as she told me, though I may not have admitted it,
there are still times when it hurts a much as ever--
I still miss my mother, but as Dorothy says in her
poem, "we've both moved on to greater sites"--
Mama to heaven, and I, going back to graduate school
this year, have graduated and have a professional positon
at a University; and I've been assured by several, that Mama knows.
Thank you so much to Dorothy for this wonderful poem.
Dorothy's book Passage into Paradise is on her
website at: http://www.geocities.com/womack47/passage.html
and now is available from iUniverse as well, along with Alzheimer's Angels,
her book of poems, and three other books (see below).
Dorothy is a writer for http://www.caregiver.com/
and her articles can also be found in the
Alzheimer's Articles section of A Year to Remember.
Email Dorothy at: womack47@charter.net
You can find all of Dorothy's books by clicking on the covers below: