Every day thousands of elderly people in nursing
homes eagerly await visitors or at least a phone call from their family. But in
the end stages of their lives, their old hearts that won't beat much longer,
are ofter bitterly disappointed. When an old man, whom the nurses only now as a
grouch, dies however and his room gets tidied up, they find something that
touches their hearts so deeply that it brings them to tears.
Amongst the patients belongings, the memories of an
entire life, they found this poem:
What do you see nurses? What do you see?
What are you thinking, when you look at
me?
A cranky 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 a
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 you 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 10, 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 25, 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 is beside me, to see that 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,
It's jest to make old age look like a
fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and vigor
depart,
There is now a stone, where once I had a
heart.
But inside this old carcass a young man
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 cranky old man,
Look closer, see ME!
Never assume that "the old grandpa" next to
you don't see things any more. He lives and feels just like you. In every body
beats a heart that remains young, even when the body decays. Remember the words
of this old man, whenever you see an elderly people and treat them the way they
deserve to be treated.
Share this poem with everyone that you know and
remember that in our hearts, we are never old.
Source : hefty.co