Memories of my Father ….. and my family!!!!

December 28, 2013

I’d seen this writing before but it wasn’t until today that I read all of it.

This brings my Dad to my mind so much!! 

Not because he was crabby but because he lived his life to the fullest and passed on in an assisted living facility in Puerto Rico when he was almost 96 years old.

I can imagine that these would be things that he experienced in his lifetime and would have written about. He lived a full life, he had his family, he had his job, he had his dreams. 

As life went on, he always talked about how his body felt and how his mind wasn’t keeping up with the aging process. Him mind was a sharp as a tack.

~~My Dad and me … circa 2006~~

CRABBY OLD MAN

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.

~~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 ……….. let’s 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.

~~My Mom and my Dad … Circa 1934~~

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.

~~My Mother …. circa 1920s~~

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~~

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

~~My Mom, Dad and me ….. Circa 1955~~

We ALL are ONE!! 

We ALL are connected through LOVE!! 

Shenandoah – Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel

Uploaded on Nov 14, 2008

“Shenandoah” by Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel.

Off of the CD “Narada Decade – The Anniversary Collection”

Eric Tingstad, acoustic guitar, and Nancy Rumbel, woodwinds, first met at an outdoor music festival in 1984. Both gifted soloists, the two musicians sensed an uncommom rapport in their styles and, a year later, initiated a collaboration. Their fluid interplay has matured into what one observer has defined as ‘contemporary chamber music’. Eric and Nancy often contribute their talents in support of humanitarian and environmental causes.