Recently I went to Springfield to an awards luncheon at which I was recognized for my poem ‘The Library Again.” The poem was chosen by Illinois Poet Laureate Kevin Stein for second place in the Gwendolyn Brooks Illinois Emerging Writers Contest. And I got to read at the State Library! How cool is that? The link above takes you to the poem, which is based loosely on the final years of my maternal grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. (She made it to 96 years old, though, so that’s a good run!) In her later years, my grandmother forgot so much, including her defenses. So although Alzheimer’s is a brutal, awful disease, it also gave us a glimpse of a softer side of her that we never would have seen otherwise.
Thanks for taking the time to read!