Greetings, Prosperous Snow celebrating !

I found this in your port and instantly connected to it. A cure for Alzheimer's Disease is included in my prayers every night, along with cancer. Both my parents died from cancer, but Alzheimer's seems to be everywhere I look these days. My father-in-law has it and so does my daughter's mother-in-law, who isn't that much older than me, but now in a nursing home, in the last stages. It's a sad, sad way to see loved ones go. It's also a huge challenge to the caregiver(s).

I think the saddest part is watching them struggle to communicate when they are still aware of what's happening to them. Later on, they lose their selves along with any past pride, giving in to words they'd never think of saying beforehand. No embarrassment to wearing a diaper or having someone wash them.

When the book first came out, I read Still Alice while on vacation. It's a fiction book about a woman in her 50s who begins to realize she is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The author did her research. In fact, I was so emerged into the story, two nights in a row I dreamed I had Alzheimer's and still feel, to this day, I had a short-lived window of what it was like to actually have it. I soaked that book up like a sponge. And I've continued to have a heart for people with Alzheimer's and their families.

Another book I read, this one being nonfiction, was Learning to Speak Alzheimer's. I thought this was excellent, also.

I have a few suggestions listed below. My reviews are intended to be helpful and encouraging, not hurtful in any way. Use what you feel works, and leave the rest.

Your poem carefully depicts Alzheimer's, and is clearly written only by someone who has experienced the caring of a loved one who's struggled through this horrid disorder.

I felt the unmatched stanzas, broken lines, and no rhyme scheme, was perfect for this piece.

The is beautifully written, Neva. I can tell it came from the heart, body and soul. I have absolutely no suggestions for improvement.

Favorite lines... (I actually have two sections of this piece that really drew me in:
Brain cell by brain cell
memory departs
into an ever deepening fog.
[I can almost feel the fog myself--Great work.]
and
It is the long good-bye
before the final curtain falls,
[And it is a long good-bye. A very long good-bye. You have lived it. You know and it shows through your words. ]
OK, I'm going to add one more...
The fixed stare
sees ... What?
[This stare is so prevalent among Alzheimer's victims. Sometimes my father-in-law thinks he sees someone when no one is there. It's so heart-wrenching.]

But the caregiver and their family, (if they have any close by,) have so much on their own plate. I can't even begin to share what it's been like for my mother-in-law... but I'm sure you already know...

Have a great day and...
  K e e p on W r i t i n g !

Cubby ")



My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .