This poem was written while Mom was in the rest home due to Alzheimer's. It was in June, 1999 and they were celebrating graduation and dressed some of the residents up. Mom was so beautiful!

Look at her, dressed in purple
Makeup to grace her eyes
Lipstick on her lips so warm
Glistening as she smiles
She is the Alzheimer's Queen
Not knowing what's going on
Just look at her, so pretty and small
All her memories are now gone
She once was a daughter,
a mother and a wife
Not knowing we're with her now
She sits and smiles in her own little world
As we try to manage somehow
The Alzheimer's Queen
Oh, what a joy
It is to see her smile
Longing to hug her and keep her safe
If just for alittle while
That is my Mom;
The Alzheimer's Queen
The lady who loved me so
Now she thinks she's the bell of the ball
I never wanted to let her go.

~Sylvia Allison~
2/24/03