Tuesday with Harvey (and Mildred!)

Ollie and I spent several hours with Mom and Dad yesterday. When we arrived Dad was relaxing in a recliner in their bedroom next to the window so he could see us drive in as well as look out over their place. He and Mom really love it out there! The speech therapist had already come and gone. Mom walked back to the bedroom with us and asked Dad to say hello to us. He responded by looking at us and saying an "ah" sound! It is very good that his brain is responding to his wanting to say a word! Previously, he did not attempt to say anything when asked to do so. The connection is now there!

Pretty shortly after we got there Dad showed me that he needed a manicure! That's been my job for years! Of course I immediately got the clippers and emery board and did his manicure! It's an honor to be able to do that for him! I wish I could do more!

Dad is has a very good appetite and is eating well with his left hand. We all ate lunch and then Dad settled into his napping mode in the living room recliner. I made a deal with Mother that, if she would also get in her recliner, Ollie and I would take her recycling in for her. Bless her heart! Mom just can't throw away cans, plastic, paper or glass! She had enough stuff that it filled up half the bed of the Tundra! I'm not making fun of her...she's a fine example for all of us! Dad's pick-up hasn't been used since his stroke, so Ollie fired it up and we drove it to get the fluids circulated, charge up the battery and deliver the recyclables to the Center in Marble Falls. Mom complied with our agreement and sat in her recliner and caught up on reading some of the newspapers while we were gone. When we got back to their house we loaded Dad into the front seat of the truck and the four of us went for a drive to Dad's nearby developments, Stone Mountain and Cavern Ranches. Dad would point to where he wanted Ollie to turn and that's where we'd go!!! He seemed to enjoy getting out in the truck and cruising around.

Mom saw us out to the car when we left and said how our visit sure made their day go by faster, especially for Dad. She said she is sure that he gets bored just sitting around every day. Please feel free to call Mom and schedule a visit! Therapy is generally scheduled on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Even on those days it is always okay to visit after about 2:30 or so. Believe me, if Dad gets tired he'll just close his eyes and rest, so don't take it personally!!! His brain is still healing and the rest is good for him! However, so is the stimulation of visits!!!

If you'll bear with the length of the following poem, I would like to share it with you. I received it in an email this morning. It was written by a man who was in a geriatric center in Nebraska and was found by the nurses cleaning out his room after he passed away. The old man's sole bequest has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St Louis Association for mental health. 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. You can go to youtube.com and listen to videos by typing in merely, "Crabby Old Man. My love to all! Sandi

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 . . . . . 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.