Alzheimers

Why Should We Care About Memory Care?

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. Genesis 48:10 ESV

They barely remember our name and struggle to recall where they are. The hands, once strong and able that provided for us, protected us and even at times disciplined us now hang limply at their sides. What is the use of visiting, when they will not remember it an hour from now? Those are hard but very real questions we may struggle with if we have a parent in memory care.

Genesis 48:10 ESV  Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.48.10.ESV

But God remembers them and like Jacob, they still hold the blessings for our children in their hands. Rather than simply pity them, or stay away in discouragement and sorrow, let us go remembering that God has designed this chapter in their lives to still have purpose. Remember that after Jesus was born, he was brought by Mary and Joseph to the temple.  There Jesus received blessings from, Simeon and Anna, the two oldest members of the community.

Those who are least respected by a society weary of caring for its elderly, are highly honored by God. These weakened by infirmity and age have been entrusted with the blessing for our children. Why should we care about memory care? Because Jesus does and He remembers them and sees when each one falls.

Before I Knew Him There

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
I did my best to visit but
Her memory was thin
And she kept asking if I knew
When she’d go home again

“What difference can I make?”
I asked and slumped down in my chair
“In just an hour or so she will
Not know that I was there”

So, I slipped out of the doorway
Hoping that perhaps I’d find
The answers to the questions
Parading through my mind

After I walked a mile the rain 
Began to fall and I
Started looking for a shelter
Underneath a tree nearby

There clinging to its highest branch
Stood a cardinal and he
When he saw me started singing
In his cheery joyful glee

And His melodies brought memories
Like echoes from a well
Reminding me of promises
That I only knew too well

Of my Savior and His passion
And the cross He chose to bear
To pay the price so high and deep
Before I knew Him there

"… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 
Ephesians 3:18b-19 NIV

Before I Knew Him There
by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2025 All rights reserved

I am dedicating this poem to the memory of my precious stepmom Amy, (pictured in the feature photo with my dad.) Amy battled Parkinson’s Disease for the last 6 years of her life and passed away in 2004. Though the scene in “Before I Knew Him There” is an imaginary composite, it is one that I see a bit of every week as I visit in the memory care wing of a local facility. I also dedicate this little poem to all those whose loved ones are passing through the veil of memory loss, or who are perhaps beginning that journey themselves.

Looking Out the Windows

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

‭‭Psalm 68:5 ESV‬‬ Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

As I walked up yesterday, I saw Norma’s hands pressed against the glass door panels of the memory care ward. She stòod there looking out and wondering if anyone would open the door for her again, as they did when she was young and lovely. But now, the door is locked. She cannot leave, nor can anyone enter without being buzzed in. There is little fresh air, no place to walk in a garden, no bench to sit at in a park, nor any birds to feed. There are just two hallways, an activity space with a television and a small lunch room. Visitors are few and the staff is often overwhelmed both mentally and physically. But God remembers. He knows her name, her heart and every sorrow. He came to earth not only for the strong, the young and comfortable. He came because He remembered all the Norma’s, and offered Himself as a friend and a Father, who has counted every hair and then gave His life on the cross for us all.