DAY 27 OF 29 DAYS OF GIFTS

Day 27 of 29 Days of Gifts was hectic and fun.  Another offer and 2 new leads.   I love this business! 

My Mother in Law has Alzheimer's and is in care in Northern Ireland.  When this email came to my attention today, I immediately thought of her and of my Sister in Law, Lorainne,  who is with her.  I couldn't get it to Lorainne fast enough as my gift for today. 

I give you "Crabby Old Woman"  and the story of its origin :

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee Scotland , it was  believed that she had nothing left of any value.   Later, when the nurses were going through her meagre 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 Northern Ireland . The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet: 


 Crabby Old Woman

 
What do you see, nurses................What do you see?
What are you thinking......When you're looking at me?
A crabby old woman..........................Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,......................With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her 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 stocking 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 girl of sixteen ...................With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now ..................... A lover she'll meet.
A bride 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 woman 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 man'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 husband is 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 woman......................... 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 girl 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 woman;..........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!
 
 

If you'd like to read about my previous days of Gifts:

DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6
DAY 7
DAY 8
DAY 9
DAY 10
DAY 11
DAY 12
DAY 13
DAY 14
DAY 15
DAY 16
DAY 17
DAY 18
DAY 19
DAY 20
DAY 21
DAY 22
DAY 23
DAY 24
DAY 25
DAY 26