This really hit home with me - just might give me a bit or patience in dealing with my mom or father-in-law.
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a
>> small hospital near
>> Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing
>> left of any value.
>>
>> Later, when the nurses were going through his meager
>> possessions,
>> they found this poem. Its quality and content so
>> impressed the staff that
>> copies were made and distributed to every nurse in
>> the hospital.
>>
>> One nurse took her copy to Missouri . The old man's
>> sole bequest to
>> posterity has since appeared in the Christmas
>> edition of the News
>> Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental
>> Health. A slide
>> presentation has also been made based on his simple,
>> but eloquent,
>> poem.
>>
>> And this little old man, with nothing left to giv e
>> to the world, is
>> now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging
>> across the Internet .
>>
>>
>> Crabby Old Man
>>
>> What do you see nurses? ....What do you see?
>> What are you thinking......when you're looking at
>> me?
>> A crabby old man, ....not very wise,
>> Uncertain of habit ........with faraway eyes?
>>
>> Who dribbles his food.......and makes no reply.
>> When you say in a loud voice....."I do wish you'd
>> try!"
>> Who seems not to notice ....the things that you do.
>> And forever is losing .... a sock or shoe?
>>
>> Who, resisting or not...........lets you do as you
>> will,
>> With bathing and feeding ....... the long day to
>> fill?
>> Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you
>> see?
>> Then open your eyes, nurse......you're not looking
>> at me.
>>
>> I'll tell you who I am ....... as I sit here so
>> still,
>> As I do at your bidding, ....as I eat at your will.
>> I'm a small child of Ten......with a father and
>> mother,
>> Brothers and sisters .......who love one another
>>
>> A young boy of Sixteen ....with wings on his feet
>> Dreaming that soon now. ..........a lover he'll
>> meet.
>> A groom soon at Twenty .my heart gives a leap.
>> Remembering, the vows.......that I promised to keep.
>>
>>
>> At Twenty-Five, now .......... I have young of my
>> own.
>> Who need me to guide ..... and a secure happy home.
>> A man of Thirty ..... my young now grown fast,
>> Bound to each other ......... with ties that should
>> last.
>>
>> At Forty, my young sons ........have grown and are
>> gone,
>> But my woman's beside me........to see I don't
>> mourn.
>> At Fifty, once more, .......... babies play 'round
>> my knee,
>> Again, we know children ......... my loved one and
>> me.
>>
>> Dark days are upon me .......... my wife is now
>> dead.
>> I look at the future...... I shudder with dread.
>> For my young are all rearing .....young of their
>> own.
>> And I think of the years...... and the love that
>> I've known.
>>
>> I'm now an old man.........and nature is cruel.
>> Tis jest to make old age .......look like a fool.
>> The body, it crumbles..........grace and vigor,
>> depart.
>> There is now a stone........where I once had a
>> heart.
>>
>> But inside this old carcass ...... a young guy still
>> dwells,
>> And now and again....... my battered heart swells.
>> I remember the joys............. I remember the
>> pain.
>> And I'm loving and living............life over
>> again.
>>
>> I think of the years....... all too few gone too
>> fast.
>> And accept the stark fact........that nothing can
>> last.
>> So open your eyes, people .......open and see,
>> Not a crabby old man. Look closer....see.......ME!!
>>
>> Remember this poem when you next meet an older
>> person who you
>> might brush aside without looking at the young soul
>> within.....we will all,
>> one day, be there, too!
>>
>> PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a
>> small hospital near
>> Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing
>> left of any value.
>>
>> Later, when the nurses were going through his meager
>> possessions,
>> they found this poem. Its quality and content so
>> impressed the staff that
>> copies were made and distributed to every nurse in
>> the hospital.
>>
>> One nurse took her copy to Missouri . The old man's
>> sole bequest to
>> posterity has since appeared in the Christmas
>> edition of the News
>> Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental
>> Health. A slide
>> presentation has also been made based on his simple,
>> but eloquent,
>> poem.
>>
>> And this little old man, with nothing left to giv e
>> to the world, is
>> now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging
>> across the Internet .
>>
>>
>> Crabby Old Man
>>
>> What do you see nurses? ....What do you see?
>> What are you thinking......when you're looking at
>> me?
>> A crabby old man, ....not very wise,
>> Uncertain of habit ........with faraway eyes?
>>
>> Who dribbles his food.......and makes no reply.
>> When you say in a loud voice....."I do wish you'd
>> try!"
>> Who seems not to notice ....the things that you do.
>> And forever is losing .... a sock or shoe?
>>
>> Who, resisting or not...........lets you do as you
>> will,
>> With bathing and feeding ....... the long day to
>> fill?
>> Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you
>> see?
>> Then open your eyes, nurse......you're not looking
>> at me.
>>
>> I'll tell you who I am ....... as I sit here so
>> still,
>> As I do at your bidding, ....as I eat at your will.
>> I'm a small child of Ten......with a father and
>> mother,
>> Brothers and sisters .......who love one another
>>
>> A young boy of Sixteen ....with wings on his feet
>> Dreaming that soon now. ..........a lover he'll
>> meet.
>> A groom soon at Twenty .my heart gives a leap.
>> Remembering, the vows.......that I promised to keep.
>>
>>
>> At Twenty-Five, now .......... I have young of my
>> own.
>> Who need me to guide ..... and a secure happy home.
>> A man of Thirty ..... my young now grown fast,
>> Bound to each other ......... with ties that should
>> last.
>>
>> At Forty, my young sons ........have grown and are
>> gone,
>> But my woman's beside me........to see I don't
>> mourn.
>> At Fifty, once more, .......... babies play 'round
>> my knee,
>> Again, we know children ......... my loved one and
>> me.
>>
>> Dark days are upon me .......... my wife is now
>> dead.
>> I look at the future...... I shudder with dread.
>> For my young are all rearing .....young of their
>> own.
>> And I think of the years...... and the love that
>> I've known.
>>
>> I'm now an old man.........and nature is cruel.
>> Tis jest to make old age .......look like a fool.
>> The body, it crumbles..........grace and vigor,
>> depart.
>> There is now a stone........where I once had a
>> heart.
>>
>> But inside this old carcass ...... a young guy still
>> dwells,
>> And now and again....... my battered heart swells.
>> I remember the joys............. I remember the
>> pain.
>> And I'm loving and living............life over
>> again.
>>
>> I think of the years....... all too few gone too
>> fast.
>> And accept the stark fact........that nothing can
>> last.
>> So open your eyes, people .......open and see,
>> Not a crabby old man. Look closer....see.......ME!!
>>
>> Remember this poem when you next meet an older
>> person who you
>> might brush aside without looking at the young soul
>> within.....we will all,
>> one day, be there, too!
>>
>> PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM
I wish I had the patience to work in a nursing home. It takes a very special person to do this!
