Mark your calendars: 

To our caregivers: we know that the family reunions, holidays, birthdays, etc. can bring stress for Alzheimer's patients.  Please don't hesitate to call our office if we can help you with suggestions, tips or just lend an ear.  You may also find this article helpful.  Click Here.

Many have requested a copy of the poems Ann read at the walk.  You will find them below and feel free to share with your friends.

The Caregiver
By LaVetta T. Corley


There was a time when I couldn’t walk.
She held my hand and taught me how to talk.
She gave me baths and fixed my hair.
She loved me then with such tender care.
She guided me through my childhood years,
Shared my dreams and calmed my fears.

Now my childhood memories she can’t recall.
It’s like I was not there at all.
Everything is such a change
Now that the roles are rearranged.
I give her baths and fix her hair,
And give her tender loving care.
Sometimes she gives a childish smile.
I am the caregiver and she is the child.

It’s sad that she sees me as one unknown
Now that her memory is gone,
But it hurts much more that I see in her eyes
A stranger that I do not recognize.


Copyright 2009 LaVetta T. Corley

If Only For a Moment

By LaVetta T. Corley

She cannot remember what was said
By herself or anyone.
She cannot recall the family home,
Or where her family has gone.
She wonders where her husband is
And why he left her alone.
He died many years ago;
But she thinks he will be home.

When she saw my old piano
She sat down and sang and played.
She remembered how the Lord had saved her;
And she remembered how she prayed.
She said it was a feeling
She never could forget.
If she could recall that moment –
It was the most important yet.

That was the most important memory
Of any she could revive;
And it seemed the old piano
Brought the memories alive.
When she sang the good old gospel song,
The piano joined right in
As though it felt her need to be
Her same old self again.

If only for a moment.

©2009 LaVetta T. Corley