~When It's Alzheimer's~

In Memory

of
Frances C. Allison

2/10/00 - 2/14/00

This candle burns in Mamas' memory and the many others who have been stricken with the likes of this devastating disease.

Alzheimers is a dreadful disease, effecting the elderly. It strips them of all memory of their lives and everyone in their lives. Let's all hope and pray for a cure from this dreadful disease.

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Picture of Mama and myself in December 1999 after her having had a massive stroke in October of that same year. This is at the Rehabilitation Center of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Our hearts broke as she had to be placed there from complications after an amputation of a toe due to Vascular Disease. We hoped and prayed she was being cared for, yet we saw a few slight infragments of the caregivers and we really didn't see the same ones alot! Even the management switched leaders way too much in
the thirteen months Mama was there. She had a short stay compared to others and Thank you God for that! Tried to ease my mind of having to put Mama in that resthome and it liked to have killed us - I regret so many times when visiting and knowing she didn't understand what was going on and wondering why we were leaving her. The doctors said it was best for her and her healing from her surgery. There are a lot of things that happened and I won't write about them here - all I ask if you are faced with such as this to leave your loved one in a home - stay on them, watch every move of you can - you will regret it in the long run. I am 61 years old and as of today Mama has been gone 8 years and 6 months and I still hurt for her. My heart aches for my best friend everyday, my life has never been the same since she passed away. I will never want her back the way she left here -

~She knows us now; she suffers no more

Love you Mama and miss you terribly.

©Sylvia~

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(This poem hung over Mama's bed)

Please Don’t Hurt Our Mom


She’s entering her home away from home
Forgotten all and where she comes from
Please treat her well be patient and kind
She has no memories left in her mind
Of where she is or who we are
She’s a special lady to us by far
Raised five children struggling through life
Even forgot she was once a wife
A little stubborn and set in her ways
With talks of childhood; her younger days
A beloved mother to us she’s a saint
Tried hard to keep her but now we can’t
Needing constant round-the-clock care
Please take care of her always be there
Going to be times she’ll give you a fit
Just give us a call; we’ll take care of it
Many of our elderly get hurt everyday
Be gentle and kind - treat her good we pray
No matter the time be it day or night

Let us know if she gets out of sight
With a wondering mind she loves to roam
Looking for the place she once called home
We promise to let you do your job
Don’t hurt our mom we plead with a sob.

©Sylvia Allison

1/8/99

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When Mom Forgets

As seasons change, for us regrets

We`re watching now as mom forgets

Of lifes` memories she`s shared within

Childhood she talks of, as stories begin

No memory of her family or a friend

Alzheimers has stripped her life to an end

When Mom forgets how to dress or eat
We have memories of our lives so sweet

Of the love she had for us five kids

As we watch this disease win all bids.

Now seasons change; we still remember

Moms` love for us so warm and tender.

©Sylvia Allison

5/6/99

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My Grandma Did The Same

She worked hard to raise her family
When I was born, I shared her name
As years went by she lost her memory
And my grandma did the same.

It’s hard to know that a disease like this
Could claim so much fame
As it took my mom and her life is missed
My grandma did the same.
Alzheimer’s is a killer of the old
And its damage could make you lame
Mom had stories all untold
And my grandma had the same.
She doesn’t remember anyone
Not even her children she could name
At seventy-eight this disease begun
And my grandma did the same.
I wish there was a way to find
A cure to make this disease tame
It’s really too late for mom

And my grandma did the same.

©Sylvia Allison
5-27-98

Four Times -

Ava Coleman - Maternal Grandmother (1984)

Frances Allison - Mother (2000)

Irene Pitts - My aunt, Moms' sister (2005)

Whitney Allison - My uncle, Dads' brother (2006)

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My sisters and myself have been told we

have an 80% chance of getting Alzheimers'.

Let's all hope work and hope for a cure real soon.

God Bless You All who are the victims & The Caregivers