~Passionately Impulsive~

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte , Nebraska , 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. It's quality and content so impressed that the staff made copies and distributed it 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 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 .


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.
 

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.

Growing up was not always easy for me, and I cannot remember a lot about my childhood like my friends, and my husband can. I can remember feeling sad, mad, and rage a lot, and I can remember all the negative things my mom would say to me or about me. I have a few good memories of my dad and me fishing or hunting or working on cars. Most of my memories come from stories I have heard being told about me from other members of the family over and over again. However I love music and always have ever since I was old enough to walk I have been listening to and dancing to music. I grew up on music, many people in my family play instruments and sing. I recently have decided to find the old songs of music that I grew up listening to and something amazing happen to me. As I sat there listening to old songs, and even 30 years later I still know all the words to all them good ole songs I was raised on. But as I sat there singing these songs I had the most amazing thing happen to me, I started to have all these different memories. Memories that where mine, and not stories I heard. They were real and they were mine. Some were bad but most were good. I was remembering things that I had long forgot, like the first time I ever danced with my dad. That was a big tear jerker of a memory for me because I was and always will be a “Daddy’s Girl”. So once this miracle happened to me I began to research my theory of music triggering lost memories. I found many studies showing that matching our intuitions about music; researchers have found that music is an important influence on our memories. We associate songs with emotions, people, and places we've experienced in the past. So now every time I hear and old song from my past it usually triggers my lost memories that I now get to share with my friends and family. It is a very exciting journey for me where I get to relive some precious forgotten memories of my childhood.

~Just Food for Thought~

What do people fear most?

At the top of the list is death, the fear of which is necrophilia. Second, apparently, is the fear of failure, which is called kakorrhaphiophobia. There is of course a story of how fears developed, like fear for the number 13. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia.

There are many explanations. One explanation is that the number 13 brings bad luck because there were 13 people present at "The Last Supper" in the Bible. Another story comes from Norse mythology. One of the nastiest Norse gods, "Loki", crashed a party at "Valhalla." Valhalla was the "banquet hall of the gods." There were 12 guests present at the hall until Loki arrived. With the mean-spirited Norse god as the 13th guest, the affair turned grim. The story goes that "Balder", "the god of light, joy, and reconciliation", died when Loki tricked Balder's sightless brother Hod into throwing mistletoe at him. Just like Kryptonite to Superman, Mistletoe, you see, was the only thing on earth that could kill Balder. The famous mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976) actually capitalized on the superstition that surrounds the number 13 when she penned 13 short stories and put them in a book titled, "The Thirteen Problems" in 1933. Each story featured her busybody sleuth, "Miss Jane Marple." Christie did it again when she wrote the mystery, "Thirteen at Dinner", which starred Peter Ustinov and Faye Dunaway. It hit the movie screen in 1985. In pagan times Friday was the luckiest day of the week because it was ruled by the planet Venus, the symbol of love and fortune. In fact, Friday is named in honor of Freya, goddess of Love.

But for Christians, Friday has not been a good day. Adam and Eve is said to have eaten the forbidden fruit on a Friday and died on a Friday. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. For centuries sailors refused to set sail on a Friday. It is told that when the reluctance of seamen to set sail on a Friday had reached such proportions that it interfered with naval operations, the British Admiralty decided to prove once and for all that it is a fallacy. They laid the keel of a new vessel on a Friday, named her H.M.S. Friday, and launched her on a Friday. On her first voyage, setting sail on a Friday, she was commanded by Captain James Friday. She left the harbor and nothing has since been heard of her or her crew. The identical story has also found its place in American folklore. The fear for traveling on a Friday continued until the early 20th century where in Europe bus and train travel was lowest on a Friday. But before you say "Thank Goodness, it's Friday!" consider that today, FBI statistics show, and most robberies take place on a Friday.

The number 13 It is believed that the fear for the number 13 stems from primitive man being unable to count past 12. Numbers beyond 12 do now have an individual and independent name but are a combination of the first 12 numbers. With 12 being the end of the line, 13 was moving into unknown territory. The baker's dozen The "unlucky 13" is the reason why the thirteen loaves that bakers once supplied were never called by the number, but described as "a baker's dozen." The thirteenth loaf was regarded as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the sale or the bread. The lucky number 13 But 13 is not unlucky for all. The Mayas worshipped the 13 gods of the upper world. The Aztecs climbed 13 steps to their sacred places. Buddhists paid homage to 13 Buddha’s. In Jewish faith, God revealed Himself by 13 attributes of bountiful mercy (Exodus 34: 6-7). The orthodox Jewish prayer book holds the Thirteen Principles of Faith. Jewish boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvah at age 13. The number 13 in Greek is triskaideka and the fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia. Whether 13 is actually an unlucky number or not will forever remain a mystery.

There are many truths about the number 13, though. For example, it is a prime number. That means that it is only divisible -without there being a remainder- by the number 1 and itself. It is also a "Fibonacci Number."

A Fibonacci Number can be defined as "a number that is the sum of the two preceding numbers." If you begin with 0 and 1, the sequence would run 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,45,79, and so on!

I got up this morning and made my husband and myself some homemade waffles. As we were finishing eating them my husband looks to me and says, lets lick our plates clean. I looked up at him and said "excuse me?" He smiled as he told me that we sometimes get so caught up in life that we forget how to live life, how to live in the moment. That we need to free ourselves and our souls every once in a while from this life we call "BEING ADULTS" and just throw in the towel to all these rules and lick our plates clean. I laughed as I asked him if he was serious? He said "YES" as he picked up his plate and started licking the syrup off his plate. He looked at me over the rim of his plate and asked, "are you not going to join me? Come on honey toss away the rule book for just a few moments and lick your plate clean!" I just laughed as I picked up my plate thinking my husband has gone mental. We sat their laughing while we licked our plates clean. I must admit that it was fun, and I did for just a few moments this morning feel like a kid again and it felt GREAT!! Just one more memory I get to share with him, and with our future grand kids. Even though at the time I thought my husband was crazy, I now see what he was saying. We do get so caught up in "LIFE" that we forget how to live life. I use to be this care free girl, that would not have thought twice about licking her plate if someone suggested it, but after having kids and sitting good examples for them, that care free girls spirit's light had diminished into nothingness. That is until this morning, and now I have a smile on my face that cannot be wiped away, and my care free light has been re-lit. "LIFE" is to precious to just let it just pass you by. You've got to grab "LIFE" by the horns and break it's rules sometimes, so as you get older you never forget how to really LIVE, LAUGH, and LOVE with NO REGRETS!! So break some rule of your LIFE today, the rules that you live by to be a good role model (not the rules made by our legal system...lol), and feel like you are really LIVING LIFE!!

Our Preacher gave an interesting sermon last Wednesday. He began telling us that God does work in mystery ways, and that he also has a sense of humor. He says he knows this because of something that happened to him yesterday (Tuesday). He told us that his kitten had once again climbed up into that small sapling tree in his front yard early Tuesday morning, and was too scared to climb back down the tree. His cat meow and meow for hours. You see he said I have already called the fire department 3 times in the past week and half to get my kitten out of the tree. He told he would have done but he trouble with high places and vertigo. So after hours of listening to this kitten meow such pitiful cries of help he got an idea. So he got his truck out of his garage and some long tough rope. The tree he stated was a small sapling of about 6-8 inches in diameter, and about 12-14 feet high. He said he made a lasso and through the rope onto a top branch. He said it took him many tries to get the rope on a good high branch, he told us he would have sucked as a Cowboy. After he got the rope onto the tree he tied the other end of the rope to the back of his truck. He then got in his truck started it and began to drive forward very slowly bending this tree over. His idea was to get the tree low enough that he could reach his kitten. He watched as the tree bent, just as he got it low enough for him to reach up and get the kitten, the rope broke and the tree flung back up into the air and the kitten went sailing. Our preachers said all he could do was stand there and watch his kitten disappear into the sky. He told his that he said “God I live my little kitten in your hands.” Meanwhile about four blocks where one of our church members live was at home with her little girl who had been begging her for a kitten, and the mother used every excuse she could think of telling her daughter why she could not have a cat. Finally she decided to tell her little girl this, “I tell you what Sarah, if God wants you to have a cat then God will send you one, ok?” Sarah just sighed as she went outside to play. Her mother watched her child sitting on the ground playing through her kitchen window while washing dishes. The next thing that she saw was the kitten come flying out of the sky and right into Sarah’s lap. She could not believe her eyes. Sarah came running in with this kitten screaming, “Mommy, Mommy look God must have thought I needed a kitty, he sent this one to me.” A little freaked out the mother could nothing but agree with her daughter. So she got her purse and car keys and he and Sarah headed to the market, after all they needed to get cat food. While at the market they ran into our preacher and Sarah’s mom ran up to him and began telling him the above story. The preacher just grinned knowing it was his kitten, but he did not tell Sarah’s mom this, because he saw the enjoyment on Sarah’s face, as well as the look on the mom’s face. You see she had not been to church in many months, saying she had lost her faith, but on that day she found her faith once again. So all the preacher said to her was “God does work in Mysterious ways.” Sarah and her mom just smiled. This past Sunday Sarah and her mom were at Church, Sarah holding her kitten, and her mom looked peaceful as she found her strength once again in God.

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, 'Why is the bride dressed in white?''

The mother replied, 'Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life.'

The child thought about this for a moment then said, 'So why is the groom wearing black?'
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A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed, 'Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late!' While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again! As she ran she once again began to pray, 'Dear Lord, please don't let me be late...But please don't shove me either!'

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Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, 'My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50.' The second boy says, 'That's nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.' The third boy says, 'I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!'

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An elderly woman died last month. Having never married , she requested no male pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, 'They wouldn't take me out while I was alive, I don't want them to take me out when I'm dead.'

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A police recruit was asked during the exam, 'What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?' He answered, 'Call for backup.'

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A Sunday School teacher asked her class why Joseph and Mary took Jesus with them to Jerusalem. A small child replied, 'They couldn't get a baby-sitter.'

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A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?' Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, 'Thou shall not kill.'

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At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs.

Later in the week his mother noticed him lying down as though he were ill, and she said, 'Johnny, what is the matter?' Little Johnny responded, 'I have pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife.'

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Two boys were walking home from Sunday school after hearing a strong preaching on the devil. One said to the other, 'What do you think about all this Satan stuff?' The other boy replied, 'Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It's probably just your Dad.'

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I got this from a friend of mine. As she put it, these are hard times for all of us and we all can use a good hearty laugh. Enjoy!!

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