A Crabby Old Lady Wrote This

No, the crabby old lady isn't me - at least not yet, I hope! I found this poem in a magazine over 25 years ago at a time when my own grandmother lived in a nursing home. No author was given. The poem helped me understand my grandmother's girlish giggles and encouraged me to really hear her stories. Now, as I look to it to gain perspective, I will admit that I liked it better when I was younger! But it helps me understand how I can be applying for Social Security, yet still feel like a little girl inside!


A Crabby Old Lady Wrote This

What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
Are you thinking when you are looking at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with far-away eyes.
Who dribbles her 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 stocking or shoe.
Who unresisting or not, lets you do as you will.
Is that what you are 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 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,
Remembering the vows that I promised to keep;
At twenty-five now I have young of my own
Who need me to build a secure, happy home;
A woman of thirty, my young now grow 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 loved one 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 an old woman now and nature is cruel
‘Tis her 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 girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living all 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, nurses, open and see.
Not a crabby old woman, look – see ME!


Yes, little Linda Sue is still there inside of me! But, as I look ahead and feel a touch of dread, I remember that the Holy Spirit also lives in me.

"We do no lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying, yet the inner man is being renewed day by day. We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I also remember that even if no one else really sees me, God sees ME! And if He dwells in me, I am never really alone. This is not the end of the story of the "Crabby Old Lady". She will spend spend eternity with the loved ones she mourned and with the Jesus who gave her hope.