Pete Ferguson

I support or care for someone with Alzheimer’s.

My Mother

As I often note, it has not only been the people but various moments without the connection to the disease I may have taken for granted. There are countless supports, moments I can reference. However, it is often I reflect on the poem "Mother to Son" by the late Langston Hughes. This may serve as my greatest source of strength as a navigate the journey Alzheimer's has taken me on.

"Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes

"Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It had tacks in it,

And splinters

And boards torn up

And places with no carpet on the floor

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on

And reachin' landin's

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So boy, don't you turn your back.

Don't you fall now

For I'se still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin'

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair."

Your moments are made not by what they forget but by what they made you remember.

"ENDALZ and remind others as often as you can so if your memory fades, somebody else will remember to carry on the fight!" (Adapted from Stuart Scott's ESPY words.)