In memory

It's been snowing here lately.  I love snow - I find it extremely peaceful.  I think this is because on my birthday 4 years ago the woman I loved most in this world; my Nana, passed away.  It was the worst snow we have had for years - we did not know if we were going to be able to bury her but all I could think about was how peaceful it was.  How still and pure and white.  I remember going out for a walk the night she died and staring at the sky.  I was looking for the brightest star as ever since I was a child Nana would tell me that the brightest star was the person you loved the most shining down on you.  The snow was billowing down and I felt such a sense of peace.  Even although my Nana hated snow I believe it was a symbol to me that she was at rest and peaceful after a long battle. 

My Nana and Papa meant the world to me, I lost my Papa 7 years previously just before I got married.  Again it was very wintry - and a hard frost.   My Nana nursed my Papa through Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, a horrendous journey but one that she faced with such courage and determination regardless of her own disabilities.  They taught me what love means - that I am sure of. 
I was looking through my most precious possession tonight which is a little book of poems and verse's that my Nana kept at the side of her chair.  She used to write in it a lot, and it is full of the most inspiring little poems.  It literally saved me after she died as every time I read it I feel as if she is here with me.
Anyway - I found this poem which as I can't find anywhere on the internet - I am assuming was her own creation  - it's about Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - although I now believe that Papa had Lewy Body Dementia.

"Where have you gone to my husband, locked in your Alzheimer's shell.
Your dead eyes can only look forward to your own particular hell
You used to prowl like a lion now you merely shuffle along
Like a ship without keel or udder - shall we ever know what went wrong?
You died long ago my darling, I can only remember and sigh
Perhaps in your muddles perspectives - you get echo's of good times gone by. "

In loving memory of Nana and Papa who I dedicate the opening of my new social enterprise The Hope Café Lanarkshire to.
"The good we do is never lost, each kindly act takes root.  And every seed of hope we sow in time will bear its fruit"  From Nana's book