Dreams Come True-- Cranky Old Man

I do not recall where this came from, but it was sent to me several years ago and has become more realistic to me the past few years. I was cleaning out some old file cabinets and found it, so I thought I would pass it on. It is interesting to me how your thoughts about life change just as your life changes.

Wally 31 Mar 2015+

DREAMS THAT CAME TRUE

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

 Later, when the nurses were going through his meagre possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

 One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in magazines for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem. And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

 CRANKY OLD MAN

 What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?

 What are you thinking .. . when you're looking 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 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 is 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.

 It's 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 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!!

 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!

Carl & Barbie

Carl has been looking for someone to spend some time with. He thanked me kindly
when I found Barbie for him? He says he may be a little old for her?

HOME TOWN MEMORIES

                                     

HOME TOWN MEMORIES      (Written several years ago)

It has been said many ways. “You can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” Or “A man may leave his hometown but his hometown will never leave him.”

No matter how it is said it is true for me. I loved growing up in a small town. I will always carry memories of Hiawatha with me wherever I go. Pine Springs, Star Point, Hamburger Flat, The Cedars, Stringtown, Flat Town are some of those memories. They will not mean much to other people but to someone from Hiawatha they all have special meanings.

I have traveled all over the world but there will always be a small part of me that longs to be back in Hiawatha. Of course I mean the Hiawatha as I remember it.

There is another saying, “You can never go back to your Hometown.” For years I did not really understand what that meant, but after visiting Hiawatha recently, I now understand. It is nothing like I remember it. Yes, some things are still there. The Amusement Hall, The Statue of the World War I soldier in the middle of town, the Post Office and the Mine Office are all there. But it has changed. It is not alive. It does not challenge me. It is small and decaying, but even so, many times I still daydream of the good old days, in my old hometown---HIAWATHA.

I have walked the streets of London, eaten in the side walk cafes of Paris, swam in the blue Mediterranean Sea, spent evenings and nights in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but when sitting in a soft chair, in a quiet room, my thoughts usually go back to some memory of my Hometown, not to the big cities of the world.

Hiawatha, I am sure, was not unlike many small towns across the country. It was not just a town, it was way of life and it was not so bad. However I feel it was a way of life that is fast disappearing. Small towns were people, taking care of people.

In Hiawatha if you were out of town, and your lawn needed cutting, your neighbor did it. He did not ask if it was OK. He went and did it. If you were gone overnight and your furnace (or stove) needed looking after, he went and did it. In Hiawatha our doors were never locked and nothing was ever taken, anyway anything, that I can recall.

If you went uptown for the mail and there was mail for your neighbor, you got it and took it home to him. If you were going to the store you stopped by and asked if your neighbor needed anything?

You traded, back and forth, baked bread, and freshly bottled fruit, jam and homemade cookies, not because you felt obligated to do so, but because you wanted to. I remember several girls my Sisters age even traded off clothes for a few days so they could wear a different skit, sweater or shoes each day. As I have said, “to live in a small town was a special way of life.”   

Hiawatha was unique in many ways. It was a “Coal Camp.” And as far as most of the kids were concerned there were no upper class or lower class. We were all the same. In fact, I guess you could say we were poor and didn’t know it. The majority of the kids lived the same life style. We never went hungry; we wore about the same type of clothes. So actually we were quite well off.

Kids were close in my younger years. Not just one boy and his girl, but gangs of kids, all out having a good time together. We ran and played in bunches, and I was fortunate  that because of my Mom, the Baldwin home seemed to be one of the gathering places for a lot of kids in town, for those bunches of kids. Mom made cookies or sandwiches and fed lunch to anyone who was at our home at lunchtime. Even after I left home and went in the Air Force some of my friends kept going to our home to visit, to have a piece of cake or pie, or a cup of coffee, or just to “shoot the bull” for a few minutes.

Well this is just a few memories about life in a small town in the 1940’s and 50’s which, was about 50 years ago, but still lives vividly in my memory.

Carl (on prayer)

Sometimes I think prayer is like sending a "text message." You know the person on the other end received it , but you are not sure just exactly WHEN you will receive an answer?

JUST A FRIEND

I don't know who put this picture on the internet but I borrowed it several years ago
Just the picture, the rest is mine. WB

                                                                             

JUST A FRIEND

He was just a boy sitting beside the road,

With his dog snuggled at his feet.

As I drove by he waved at me

And his dog’s tail did start to beat.

I had noticed him before as I drove that way,

And I went busily on my way.

But as I went by this day I thought to myself

Why does seeing him there bother me so much today?

The boy and his dog sat there every day

And I thought to myself why does he not go and play?

I thought I would stop and talk and see

Does he wave to everyone or only to me?

I stopped next day just as he gave his dog a hug

And just watching this boy and his dog, gave my heart a tug.

We sat on the lawn and talked a while

And when I left we both had a great big smile.

He told me next day to stop and meet his friends.

He also said the surprises will never end.

I had stopped as a stranger, and now we were friends,

But that is not how this story ends.

I just sat down the next day and around the corner she came,

Huffing and Puffing in her Spandex and “Tennies.”

She waved and she smiled and ran on up the road.

Jimmie laughed and said,” she is in her “Happy Lady” mode.

Again I just sat down and some teen-agers came “cruzzing.”

They are my friends, they sure are amusing.

They stopped for a minute, and one gave Jim a book,

His “Grams” sat on the porch and gave him “that look.”

Then I heard a roar that I could not explain

And around the corner “Jimmie’s Dragon" came.

It was a BIG BLACK Dodge jacked up, with Pipes and chrome.

Black smoke poured out of the pipes, and the engine did moan.

I thought the show was over and I told Jim I should go,
But he thought there were others I should get to know.

Then I heard a noise only one thing could make.

It was Bill on his Harley, as a big turn he did make.

I looked up the sidewalk and started to “Gawk.”

Jimmie said it was “Gramps & Grams” out for a walk.

He hobbled on his walker and she in her JAZZY

And Jimmie said to me, “Don’t they look “snazzy.”

I learned a lesson from a boy and his dog.

Don’t walk around with your thoughts in a fog.

If you wave and are happy, I am sure you will find

Someone just waiting for you to be kind!

W.R. Baldwin  10 March 2015

WHAT AM I --#2

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS IS. I AM PRETTY SURE I DO, BUT I AM NOT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE?