The Crabby Old Man

I recently received this story and poem from a good friend through email. You might have already read it but I felt strongly that it is worth sharing here.

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing ho9me in North Platte, Nebraska, it was believed 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 loking 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.....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 flet by the heart.

Noah's Ark

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark .

ONE: Don't miss the boat.

TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!

THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to

do something really big.

FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

SIX: Build your future on high ground.

SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.

TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT AND CHILDREN

I read this story and it made me laugh so I thought I would share it with you. It could probably have been written about my daughter and her family as about many families. This holiday season, lets remember what it is truely about. Take time for Christmas Pageants, Christmas Teas, Christmas Programs. You will have a better Christmas season if you do.

Choose Joy.

The reason for the Season

My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years

but hadn't been blessed with a baby.

I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide.

God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son.

The next year God blessed us with another son.

The following year, He blessed us with yet another son.

The year after that we were blessed with a daughter.

My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty.

We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old.

I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it.

As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children

each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start.

God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him.

I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the

kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.

I tried to be understanding... when they started a hotel for homeless

frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took

me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.

In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers,

never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time

I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn't keep my promiseto be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close....

I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.

I knew I was missing the mark just a little when

I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God,

and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too.

Something was lost in the translation

when I explained that God gave us everlasting life,

and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."

My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant.

My daughter was playing Mary,

two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man.

This was their moment to shine.

My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line,

We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes."

But he was nervous and said,"The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes."

My four-year-old "Mary" said,"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly.
That's dirty, rotten clothes."

A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and

was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing.

I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped

the doll representing Baby Jesus,

and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama."

Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly

as the wise men arrived.

My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown,

knelt at the manger and announced,"

We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense, and fur.

The congregation dissolved into laughter,and the pageant got a standing ovation.

I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,"laughed

the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes.

"For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story

without thinking of gold, common sense and fur."

"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing,"

I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.

Had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us.

TIPS TO MAKE LIFE EASIER

DID YOU KNOW?

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert.

Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting

When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

Squirrel Away!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in nar-row openings.

Reducing Static Cling

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ..... ta da! ..... ..static is gone.

Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car . When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
Goodbye Fruit Flies

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil-ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too.

You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box .. well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!

Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

FOUR THINGS

FOUR THINGS YOU CAN'T RECOVER

The stone.............after the throw.

The word........after it's said.

The occasion........after it's missed.

The time........after it's gone.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Have a Blessed Day!

A LESSON THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN ALL SCHOOLS

I got this story in my email yesterday and I thought it was important enough to post.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a
social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock ,
did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the
permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building
supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there
were no desks. 'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'
'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third
period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in
Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken
all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats
on the floor of the desk less classroom, Martha Cothren said,
'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in
this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that
classroom, each one carrying a school desk.. The Vets began placing the
school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place
those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their
lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These
heroes did it for you.. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up
to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good
students, to be good citizens.. They paid the price so that you could
have the freedom to get an education.

Don't ever forget it.
By the way, this is a true story.
Please don''t ever forget the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans. Some with their lives.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out non essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.

Let the doctors worry about them.

That is why you pay 'them'

2. Keep only cheerful friends around you. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever..

Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. It is said that we can add years to our life by laughing long and often. You know how good you feel after you have laughed, so it must be true.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.

Your home & family is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health.
If it is good, preserve it.
If it is unstable, improve it.If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER - Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Do share this with someone because.......................

We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Worry about nothing, pray about everything!!!