Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me

Elton John wrote the music for and sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me", Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics. For a couple of months now, I have found myself singing this tune in my head daily as the sun slides lower into the western sky. It could so easily be the theme song for Sundowner's Syndrome. The only line that doesn't fit is "I can't find, oh the right romantic line". Here are the lyrics. See for yourself what I mean...


I can't light no more of your darkness
All my pictures seem to fade to black and white
I'm growing tired and time stands still before me
Frozen here on the ladder of my life

Too late to save myself from falling
I took a chance and changed your way of life
But you misread my meaning when I met you
Closed the door and left me blinded by the light

Don't let the sun go down on me
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me

I can't find, oh the right romantic line
But see me once and see the way I feel
Don't discard me just because you think I mean you harm
But these cuts I have they need love to help them heal



I don't think I will ever hear it again without thinking of all the people who suffer from a syndrome that is still a HUGE medical mystery. I know I will always think of Dad in particular.

Recently, I was running late getting dinner on the table one evening. As we sat down, Dad and I, I noticed that the shadows in the room were longer than usual and that Dad was moving a bit slower than usual. As the meal progressed and the darkness outside began to close in, I was startled to see Dad deteriorate right before my eyes. He became increasingly more confused. His ability to find the right words to express his thoughts became rapidly nonexistent. He began to tremble and had great difficulty getting his fork properly up to, much less into, his mouth. By the end of the meal, he was beginning to drool and could not rise from his chair by himself.

Normally, by that time of night, he is either dozing in front of the T.V. or he's already in bed. Perhaps that's why I had never seen such a dramatic downward spiral. Actually, that isn't true. The only other times I had seen anything like it were times he was hospitalized. He suffers from Hospital Psychosis as well and the Sundowner's is markedly worse when he is institutionalized. At least when he is there, I can leave the worst of it to the medical personnel. At home, it's just us, and we have to get through it the best we can. In general, things are getting worse so it stands to reason this would as well. We are both frozen here on the ladder of our life.








If you would like to read more about Sundowner's Syndrome try http://sundownerfacts.com/sundowners-syndrome/