Crabby Old Lady? - Better Look Again! ( Archived) (17)

I found this poem and it touched my heart. It was written by an old lady that died in a hostpital in Dundee, Scottland. It was the only thing she owned. I crowded it so it would fit on here, and there is a second verse written by a nurse to the old lady.

Crabby Old Lady? 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,
With faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice,
"I do wish you try!"
Who seems not to notic
The things 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,
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,
Remebering the vows
That I promise 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 ols carcass
A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,
My battered heart swells.
I remeber the joys,
I rember 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!

thank you for sending this strange watery stuff down my face.

Thank you....I used to work with the elderly...sometimes people don't want to look...as they see their future...but in that...lose a beautiful past...

NURSES REPLY to crabby old woman


What do we see, you ask, What do we see? Yes, we are thinking when looking at thee! We may seem to be hard when we hurry and fuss, But there's many of you, and too few of us. We would like far more time to sit by you and talk, To bathe you and feed you and to help you to walk. To hear of your lives and the things you have done; Your childhood, your husband, your daughters, your son. But time is against us, there's too much to do, Patients too many, and nurses too few. We grieve when we see you sad and alone, With nobody near you, no friends of your own. We feel all your pain, and know of your fear, That nobody cares now your end is so near. But nurses are people with feelings as well, And when we're together you'll often hear us tell; Of dearest Old Gran in the very end bed, And the lovely old Dad, and the things that he said, We speak with compassion and love, and fell sad when we think of your lives, and the joy that you've had. When the time has arrives for you to depart, you leave us behind with an ache in our hearts, When you sleep the long sleep, no more worries or care, There are other old people, and we must be there, So please under stand if we hurry and fuss, There's so many of you, And so few of us.

poor old woman.. it's sad how all one's life-experiences and wisdom often just wastes away to loneliness, regret and fear in old age..

and even sadder to think of how many are treated in residential homes, they are not individuals anymore, they evolve into a simple 'patient', 'number' or 'client'.

Your welcome, It touches the heart, I know, almost made me cry.

thats lovely and so true as i loved my gran. I lived with her since i was 11 years old and i nursed her for 12 weeks before she died at the great age of 86. What a pleasure it was for me to do that for her, after all the good memories she left me with.

aawwww, I'll wipe your tears, there, that better, didn't mean to make that happen....

Don

Wow, all I can say is thanks for sharing that! Truly a great thread! Kevin