They are fading into ghosts, the mothers from
My childhood years.
First the steps slowing, then the cane,
The stumbling and falling.
Then the walker’s dependence.
The thoughts slowing to confusion;
The words slurring,
The memory of today departing.
Finally, cognition fails.
One of them ill, then hospitalized,
Then, another becomes homebound.
Slowly the funerals begin,
Then they become more frequent.
Soon they fade into only memories,
Causing tears to fall onto many cheeks.
Alive in memory only,
Never to be forgotten.