A Farewell Album for My Parents
by Mark Seiden, Ph.D.
(click to enlarge)
A Farewell Album for My Parents demonstrates a creative approach to the aging process.
A Farewell Album for My Parents is for the rapidly growing population of fifty and sixty year olds now called on to coordinate care for their seventy and eighty+ year old parents; and for all families and human service professionals coping with the stresses of end-of-life care.
A Farewell Album for My Parents is an ideal gift for caregivers and those who need care as they grow older.
Price: $19.95
Mommy without (Much) Memory
Mommy without memory
– is just a line of poetry.
Mommy without much memory,
I’m glad you still remember me,
still can tell me what you see,
still clap hands so generously
for loving deeds, achievements
great and small – yours, mine,
anyone’s.
Your humility
staggers me, too: “I think we
should apologize to the trees
for not honoring them enough,”
you said. “Did I say that?”
I’m glad you still conduct music,
your hands flowing wavelike through air
whenever someone sings or plays.
Isn’t it strange how the mind works?
How old lyrics stick to their tunes
like “oatmeal sticks to the ribs”
you used to say – “I did?”– while
words alone just drift away.
Yes, lyrics stick to their tunes
while words alone just drift away,
and even intonation has its own
memory lane in the brain:
“Boys and girls together,” I sing,
“Me and Mamie O’ Rourke,
tripped the light fantastic on
the sidewalks of...”
And I pause
and you hit the last word
perfectly and show pride
and pleasure by pronouncing
it just right: “New Yourke!”
“Great, Ma!
Why would anyone say you
have no memory?”
“Because they’re jealous??!”
