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  give 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 w hat 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 oth er ......... 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!


The best and most beautiful things of this  world can 't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart.



GROWING OLD IS NOT FOR  SISSIES!

thanks for your refreshing perspective Pulsar. u seem to come from heart intelligence and I much enjoy talking with you as usual.
yes its true, today's society is not like yesterday's society. you cannot get respect anymore just because of age, although, lordy, I have tried. it doesnt work, and some older people are clearly, without wisdom so maybe that's why, nobody will give them credit, even the ones who have many treasures to share, they may be put off by the usual reactions to age and infirmity.
I worked in resthomes as an entertainer and came across many different types of olders, all of them interesting, even the ones who seem to have lost their mind, it makes you think about society and aging and the soul and death. u see these people and you immediately wonder where are their families of the mothers who used to change the diapers of their kids and now they are thrown away into a place where care becomes a clinical thing.
I like Italy, nobody is thrown away just because they need help with getting around, what not. the older people get some respect, just because they have more family values than America. but I think u are in Germany? so don't know what your society is like there insofar as family values.
so crabby folks laying up in a bed, they should be good and crabby for a reason. a good nurse will let them be crabby and still give them affection and not even see the crabbiness.

thanks you dearlite again your presence here on this board.