Rosemead Kiwanis Club
"Serving the Community Since 1945"
FAX OF
LIFE
|
Rosemead Kiwanis Club "Serving the Community Since 1945" |
|
FAX OF LIFE
|
The Fax of Life
A weekly inspiration, courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of Scott's Valley
(distributed free by the Kiwanis Club of Rosemead, CA - rosemeadkiwanis.org )
September 13, 2009
Volume 14, Number 45
CRABBY OLD MAN
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte, Nebraska,
i
t was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were goingthrough 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 facility. 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 else 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 who you might brush aside
without looking
at the young soul within . . . . . We will
all, one day, be there, too!
(Editor's note: Other versions of this tale, which has been around for awhile, vary
the details of location of the facility and occupation of the medical professional
involved, but this does not diminish the essential points.made in the poem.)
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. All of its Clubs are independently-run community service groups.
The Kiwanis Club of Scott's Valley normally meets at the Heavenly Café in Scott's Valley, CA, on Wednesdays at 7 am - see the Scott's Valley Kiwanis website @ http://svkiwanis.org for details; The Kiwanis Club of Rosemead normally meets on Thursdays at 12:10 in Rosemead, CA - see the Rosemead Kiwanis website @ http://rosemeadkiwanis.org for confirmation and directions. Visitors are welcome to join meetings of either club anytime.
There is no charge to anyone for receiving the "Fax," which today is circulated by e-mail rather than literally by FAX. If you have been encouraged in any way by the message, pass it on by saying something encouraging to someone else during the week. To subscribe to the free weekly RKC Reporter, of which the "Fax" is an attachment, simply email kcrosemead@aol.com,
Neither the Scott's Valley or Rosemead Kiwanis Clubs make any representations as to the accuracy of quotes or actions attributed to named individuals; material selected for the Fax of Life comes from a variety of sources and is chosen based solely on its presumed inspirational value to readers.