Crabby Old Man

I received this in an email and thought I would share it with you.

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 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 you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within.....we will all, one day, be there, too!

The History of Aprons

Author Unknown

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ' old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.

Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Elder Care and Big Brother

Sensors Help Keep the Elderly Safe, and at Home
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13senior.html?th&emc=th

My comments will follow in the next post.

Birth of a Blog

Today my first public blog was born. It wasn't much to speak of, but it's open and public and naked for the world to see. Here goes!