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Stopping by the Nursing Home on a Sunny Morning
She was my shelter from a storm
A home away from home
My blanket I would never outgrow
Just one embrace and I would know
That this too shall pass, and I could face
My toughest enemy in every race
But now she is a shadow of her younger self
a withering flower in a forgotten glass vase
I tell myself that this too shall pass but I
don’t know what lies on the other side of the glass
door when I am in the nursing home Alzheimer’s ward
She won’t see me nor remember the lives we had
Once a beauty queen, she lent me pearls and scarves
I see her pale blue gown, spotted skin and IV scars
She used to bake pecan pies and macaroons
When she walked by the room would smell of jasmine
The unspooled yarn in a basket under the bed
is another sweater that will never be made
“It’s Ally,” I whisper to the one who named me
The youngest in our clan, once her favorite grandbaby
Her eyes are fixed on a picture frame of us and an old Great Dane
His mind was gone before his body left
He has the same droopy eyes as her and a dejected look
The last photograph in our home my daddy took
I hold Grandmother’s hands that tremble like a leaf about to fall
She hasn’t shut me out, not yet, not completely, not at all
But I see the hollowness in her eyes, the windows about to close
Does her mind not know the love that her heart, I hope, knows?
If love is lost with memory, who is she to me
If only my love and memory stay, for now, will it be
Question
Which characteristic of memory loss is BEST supported by the information in “What can beagles teach us about Alzheimer’s disease?” and reinforced through description in the poem?
Responses
A Memory loss causes older people to be disliked and abandoned.Memory loss causes older people to be disliked and abandoned.
B Alzheimer’s patients show a decreased ability to focus and to pay attention.Alzheimer’s patients show a decreased ability to focus and to pay attention.
C Trembling limbs is a sign often associated with memory loss in old people.Trembling limbs is a sign often associated with memory loss in old people.
D Depression and dejected appearance often indicate the onset of Alzheimer’s.