Prayer before visiting a loved one with Alzheimer’s

Center me, O Provident God
as I prepare to visit my loved one
whom you have taken from me by luring her into the fog of Alzheimer’s.

Enable me to find the energy of her spirit connecting with mine
even though she can no longer call me by name.
Let her smile flash to me love sparks that in a new way our imagination
as we meet wherever she is at this moment in her journey.

Free me from my expectations of how a visit ought to go
and immerse me instead in the moment of presence that you offer us to share here and now.

You baffle me, O Provident God,
with the mystery of this disease that in its brain tangles steal the brilliance of
your sons and daughters. I guess I will just have to trust that you will enable
me to live into the answers I seek.

Companion me and my loved one whom I am visiting today, O Provident God.
Fill us with the love and peace we need to continue this journey in hope. Amen.