I don’t remember the day I lost it;
it all happened over months or years.

I’d be talking about one thing
and the next minute I’d repeat it

or I’d ask what I was talking about.
My daughters were patient

and let me put sticky notes
all over the house,

but eventually I forgot to put
sticky notes all over the house

and left the oven on,
the cat with no food

and forgot to load the laundry.
I still believed

I was young enough to do this.
When they told me I had Alzheimer’s

I felt the floor give way and swallow
me whole. I wouldn’t end up

like that, would I? A vegetable
with no memory of loved ones

or the meal I had just eaten.
But when I went to the House

the ladies were so nice
even though they had to assist

me in the bathroom and call-bells
rang every five seconds.

I think it’s for the best. I couldn’t
take care of myself.

I miss my cat the most. And am ashamed
that I did not feed her that day.

01/15/2006

Posted on 01/15/2006
Copyright © 2024 Lisa Marie Brodsky