AN ALZHEIMER'S VALENTINE

(Source: By Tom and Karen Brenner, Alzheimer's Reading Room)
 
 
We were impossibly young and so beautiful,
When we met and fell in love.

You were the cool guy from the big city
I was the shy small town girl.

I bring you photographs of those days long ago,
You look and smile and ask me who those people are.

I take your hand. It is warm and strong in mine,
You don’t remember me but you know that we belong together.

I tell you the stories of those two young people
You listen intently and study their faces.

And look into my face,
With wonder in your eyes.

I have come to understand that it doesn't matter,
That you no longer remember who we were then.

It only matters that we can sit and hold hands,
While I tell you stories of our past.

Like an old photograph, memory can fade away,
But love endures.

In the touch of hands, in a smile,
In the wonder I see in your eyes.