The Memory Unit
by Elouise
The Memory Unit gathers –
A motley congregation
faces the long, high pulpit and
double-locked entrance.
Weary attendants gather behind
the pulpit busy with paperwork
and a phone that never rings
for these lost sheep.
Women and men in varied
stages of present non-presence
watch and wait for what will not
arrive today or tomorrow.
In various stages and styles
of dress and distress they sit
on chairs or in wheelchairs or
lie strapped on trolleys to
avoid inconvenience or upset.
Some moan or shout while others
eerily silent stare and a few
bright-faced parishioners knowingly
greet everyone and no one passing by.
Silent or babbling, singing or shouting
repetitive statements and vociferous
objections to no one and everyone
in particular the congregation of
expectant supplicants searches
not for lost sheep or a shepherd
but for themselves and worlds
they can never re-enter even if
they come through the locked door
caring for and loving them as they are
if only for this passing moment.
©Elouise Renich Fraser, 19 April 2018
Poem based on my memory of a visit several years ago to a Memory Unit in Philadelphia
Photo taken by Maja Daniels in a Memory Unit in France; found on npr.org
Telling the Truth 
This is so sad. Having had a family member in a facility like this, your description of the scene is pretty accurate.
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How sad for your family. I’m hoping all the current research will yield hope for the next generation, if not for our own.
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Yes, me too.
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My father lived in a “memory care unit” for almost two years until his death. His care was outstanding and he probably lived longer than had he lived at home. It is a gut-wrenching challenge to watch someone’s capabilities slip away. I cannot recommend highly enough Stephen Post’s article “Alzheimer’s & Grace” which appeared in First Things in April 2004. Profoundly helpful.
https://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/04/alzheimers-amp-grace
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Thanks, Meg. I’ll check out the article. I wish there were more stories like yours, though even with outstanding care it’s still heartbreaking. I can’t help connecting the progression of the disease with ALS and the gradual disappearance of capacities we take for granted.
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One of the things that may be harder with ALS is that the onset is often much earlier. While I would not wish dementia on anyone, my father was 91 when he died, not the younger age of your sister & many others with ALS.
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Thank you for this post, Elouise, and for the recommendation, Meg, of Stephen Post’s article “Alzheimer’s and Grace” in First Things, April, 2004. I looked it right up, and the First Things website allowed me to print the whole article without charge. It is a very helpful article. A member of our family is experiencing dementia. I will pass this article around the family and hope to have some faith-strengthening conversations. Our family member is being cared for by remarkable people who remember the whole person they knew in the past.
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You’re wecome, Mary. Yes, the Stephen Post article is wonderful. I’m sad to hear about your family member, and grateful there are people around who remember and can relate.
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Thank you for this post, Elouise–and for the link to the article, which will now be required reading in a course I teach on suffering. Many in my family have been lost, little by little, to dementia… yet, indeed, we are called to continue to love, to care, to remember.
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You’re welcome! It’s an excellent article–thanks to Meg who told me about it. And thanks so much for the comment about your family. I pray all is going well for you just now.
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