August 2014
August 2014 Started off in great fashion, I managed to take a young Stroke Survivor and his 3 children to Old Trafford, The Theatre of Dreams !! – Well today I not only made his Dream come true but also his young family too and what is more we had lunch in the Red Cafe and they all loved it. With a special thanks to MJ and Richard Arnold and the staff at MUFC including our guide Sharon who was exceptional. THANK YOU so much
As my volunteering on the local Stroke ward continues and I enjoy helping others that are where I once was, I would just like to share this poem with you; Enjoy;
Crabby Old Man
What do you see nurses?…….What do you see?
What are you thinking……..when you are 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 loosing…….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 your eyes nurse……..you’re not looking at me
I’ll tell you who I am………As I sit here so still
Im 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 will 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 around 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 Ive known
Im now an old man……….and nature is cruel
Tis jest to make old age…..look like a fool
The body it crumbles……..grace and vigour, 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 Im 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 please open your eyes, people…….open and see
Not a crabby old man…….Look closer…….See ME !!!!
