In Loving Memory

MARTJE

21 September 1931  - 14 January 2012

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 and nurtured 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 the examples in life 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 who 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 loved you.

by Joann Snow Duncanson