This Mother’s Day, I want to acknowledge the very special relationship between mothers with Alzheimer’s disease, and the daughters who care for them. This relationship has been a focus of my graduate research at Indiana University. For an upcoming article I am publishing, I have used a research method called poetic inquiry to explore the complex, multidimensional relationship between these moms and their caregiving daughters.

The poems below are called found poems because the words come directly from the participants. My purpose is to help others understand, at an emotional level, the “before” and “after” of these mothers and daughters and the impact Alzheimer’s has had on their lives. (All names are pseudonyms.)

Mary’s Poem: Love and Loss

Mary is a 48-year-old mother of three grown children. She has been the primary caregiver for her mother, aged 83, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago.

Lisa’s Poem: Her Everything

Lisa is a 42-year-old mother of three children and founder of a non-profit. She has been caring for her mother for 12 years since her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in her mother’s early 60s.