Memorial Poems

Last month I lost my mother, Peg, just after Christmas. She had been struggling with dementia for the last years of her life. It was a horrible end to a life filled with creativity. I got my crafting bug from her. My mother painted, crocheted, and even created art with chocolate molds. It makes me sad to think of all the things she could have created if dementia hadn’t cut her life short.

There will never be another woman like her, and I want to try to keep her legacy alive. I’m hoping to compile a photo collage of some of her paintings and other creations in the coming months with other blog posts. Her talent was immense, and I want the world to know.

While I take a bit to grieve her loss, I want to share with you some poems I wrote years ago. Writing is a craft, after all. I found them buried under years of other memories. I wrote them just after my grandmother passed away over twenty-five years ago.

I got the idea to write these poems when my mother and I went to a religious store to get some memorial cards printed for my grandmother. Though not as popular now, memorial cards were a popular thing at wakes or to insert in thank you cards. Together we poured through the book of images and poems, hoping to find the perfect words to sum up my grandmother’s life. We finally found one we liked, but I was struck by how few memorial poems there were. Everywhere I looked were the same poems and images. I wanted to change that, so I decided to try my hand at writing some poems.

I’m no poet, but I came up with a few passable poems. I thought about starting a small business to make my own memorial cards, but life took me in other directions. Family and work never allowed me the time, and I had no idea how to start such a business. The poems got tucked away into an old box of photos and forgotten. I found them when I was looking for pictures to display at my mother’s wake. I think that is her way to telling me to share them with you now.

I hope in sharing these poems is that someone might find comfort in them. Take care and keep crafting.