Fill me with courage and strength
To do my duties with diligence,
To care for my sick loved one
With longsuffering and patience.






Give me peace and contentment
In a world full of chaos
That I might serve Thee better
As long as I shall last.







Help me to be blind and deaf
To the things that upset me;
Help me to focus instead
On your world full of beauty.







The orchids in the garden,
The brush of butterfly wings
Are Nature's reminders of hope
That help my weary heart to sing.






Help me to see that caregiving
Is not a heavy cross to bear
But a precious opportunity to
Develop Christ's image so fair.







Thank you, God, for your patience
And your love that sustains;
I'll praise you forever and ever
In the name of Jesus. Amen.



Copyrighted © Lydia Haga 2004

THE ALZHEIMER'S PRAYER



Pray for me, I was once like you.
Be kind and loving to me,
That's how I would have treated you.
Remember I was once and still am
your spouse, I had a life
and a dream for the future.





Speak to me, I can hear you
even if I don't understand
what you are saying.
Speak to me of things in my past
of which I can still relate.
Be considerate of me,
my days are such a struggle.





Think of my feelings because
I still have them and can feel pain.
Treat me with respect because
I would have treated you that way.





Think of how I was
before I got Alzheimer's;
I was full of life, I had a life,
laughed and loved you.





Think of how I am now,
my disease distorts my thinking,
my feelings, and my ability
to respond, but I still love
you even if I can't tell you.





Think about my future
because I used too.
Remember I was full of hope
for the future just
like you are now.


Think how it would be
to have things locked
in your mind and can't
let them out.





I need you to understand
and not blame me, but Alzheimer's.
I still need the compassion
and the touching and most of all
I still need you to love me.


Keep me in your prayers because
I am between life and death.
The love you give will
be a blessing from God
and both of us will live forever.





How you live and what you do today
will always be remembered in the heart
of the Alzheimer's Patient.


Copyrighted © Carolyn Haynali 3/10/00







Related poems: A Thief in the Night
and A Token of Our Love