I once was

Written for and submitted to 'a write for the aged'.

I once was...
So tall and so graceful
now I am stooped and I shuffle
My skin was tanned and so taunt
now it is paper-thin, pale, wrinkly and gaunt

My teeth used to be so straight and so white
now they are not mine
They are plastic and soak in a glass by my bed at night

My memory was so sharp and didn't fail
Now I have trouble remembering my own name
"Thank you for visiting me... Sharon" (my daughter)
Then...
"Who are you again"?

My body does what it wants ...

I am not capable of feeding myself
Because I can't control the tremor in my hand
My bladder empties into incontinence aids now
And not in the toilet upon my command

I rely upon my aids
Wether to help me walk or sit or shower
I am no longer steady upon my feet
My body just not have the strength or the power

I look around my room
And realize that this is not my home...
I don't belong here...
I must be visiting someone
I find a suitcase and pack some things that I hold so dear

So I stand inside the gate with my suitcase packed
Looking up and down the street
Waiting for my family to come
to take me home
I walk up and down shuffling my feet

I wait patiently, until someone puts their arm around my waist 
And leads me back inside
I think that I know her face?

Kindly she says "Mary, how about you come back in and have some dinner"
Her sympathetic eyes look at me with a touch of sorrow...
I go inside and forget what I have done
I will start it all again...
tomorrow

Sometimes I stare into the mirror
And think that she is as beautiful as can be
That's my mother smiling so brightly
and so lovingly back at me

Other times...
I look into the mirror and can't believe what I see
That the old wrinkly woman with the grey thinning hair is really.....
me?