Assisted Living

These poems chronicle the life of the author's mother (1924-2011) in an attempt to keep her mother from disappearing as dementia removes her from loved ones and memories. The subject, Kathleen Marie Cole Houghteling, grew up in a Michigan village, where her father ran the local bank. She married a local boy, Jack Houghteling, and followed him around the country as he moved from base to base for the U.S. Army during WWII. The deaths of their first daughter, her father, then her mother occured early in her life. The couple had three more daughters. Though the family left their village of Walkerville, a deep connection to the place remained. Kay Houghteling was a gifted pianist, accompanying choral groups at 14. Music was at the core of her being and accompanied her through her last years with dementia. This is a daiughter's perspective on her mother's life through poems written with admiration, guilt, love and longing.