I found this and wanted to share it with my fellow caregivers. For me, I had two husbands. This poem speaks to me deeply. I hope it encourages someone today.
Two Mothers Remembered
I had two mothers – two mothers I claim,
Two different people, yet with the same name.
Two separate women, diverse by design,
But I loved them both because they were mine.
The first was the mother who carried me here,
Gave birth, nurtured me, and launched my career.
She was the one whose features I bear,
Complete with the facial expressions I wear.
She gave her love, which follows me yet,
Along with examples in life that she set.
As I got older, she somehow younger grew,
And we’d laugh as just mothers and daughters do.
But then came the time that her mind clouded so,
And I sensed that the mother I knew would soon go.
So quickly she changed and turned into the other,
A stranger dressed in the clothes of my mother.
Oh, she looked the same, at least at arm’s length,
But now she was the child, and I was her strength.
We’d come full circle, we women three,
My mother the first, the second, and me.
And if my own children should come to a day
When a new mother comes and the old goes away,
I’d ask of them nothing that I didn’t do.
Love both of your mothers as both have loved you.
Author: Joann Snow Duncanson