Nobody or Somebody

I have been in the process of organizing our office the past couple of days (a huge undertaking, let me tell you). Today, I stumbled upon a slightly tattered paper containing a poem that means a lot to me.

This poem was written by an elderly lady named Loudean Lamb. I met Loudean when some of my friends and I went to an elderly home to visit with the people who lived there. We had a nice evening of meeting new people, and listening to stories. Loudean was very welcoming, she invited us into her room and shared several verses of poetry she had written herself.

I was especially touched by the poem below, and told her so. Loudean then presented me with my very own copy. It is a poem I have shared with many other people along the way. Its message is especially powerful coming from a sweet old lady, whose hands were so crippled with arthritis that she couldn’t even unclench them.

Nobody or Somebody

Sometimes I feel like a nobody.
Do you sometimes feel that way too?
Like no one would know if I wasn’t here.
Does that ever happen to you?
When you walk in a room no one sees you,
You speak and no one seems to hear.
Did you ever feel like this happened,
More than one or two times this past year?
Well, the very next time that it happens,
Go somewhere and look in a mirror,
Then talk to yourself and say,
“Listen! You’re somebody! Do you hear!?”

Who would sit in your chair at the table?
Who would sleep in your bed every night?
Who would comfort a friend, who was troubled,
Telling them, things would soon be alright?
So you see you really are needed.
There is nobody exactly like you.
You are the only somebody,
That can do the things that you do.
So when you feel like a nobody,
Go and look at yourself in a mirror.
And say to the image you see there,
“You’re really somebody, my dear.”
- Loudean Lamb