A 92-year-old woman from Oregon is winning hearts all over the Internet after her caregiver shared a video of her reciting a heartwarming poem she wrote years ago.
"It's such a significant poem," Kathryn Wilson of Portland, Ore., told ABC News. "I just love it so much and I thought it should be broadcasted for everyone else to enjoy.
"I think it's wonderful that she's gotten so much attention," she added. "But I never dreamed it would go like this."
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"She's a poet and an artist--she's so many amazing things," Wilson said of Goines. "She is a pretty brilliant lady. There's just no people like her."
According to Wilson, Goines often recited the poem, which she titled "The Gift Wrap and The Jewel."
Wilson posted a YouTube video of Goines reading the piece, where it quickly racked up over 600,000 views.
Goines, who has eight children, 15 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, told ABC News that she wrote the poem many years ago and it gives readers and listeners a glimpse into how she really feels about growing old.
The poem reads:
I looked in the mirror and what did I see, but a little old lady peering back at me. With bags and sage and wrinkles and wispy white hair and I asked my reflection, how did you get there?
You once were straight and vigorous and now you're stooped and weak--when I tried so hard to keep you from becoming an antique.
My reflection's eyes twinkled and she solemnly replied, 'You're looking at the gift wrap and not the jewel inside'--a living gem and precious of un-imagined worth, unique and true the real you, the only you on earth.
The years that spoil your gift wrap with other things more cruel should purify and strengthen and polish up that jewel.
So focus your attention on the inside, not the out--on being kinder, wiser, more content and more devout.
Then, when your gift wrap is stripped away, your jewel will be set free--to radiate God's glory, throughout eternity.
As for the attention she's been receiving, Goines' response was as true and honest as her poetry.
"I think its weird," she said, laughing. "That's a funny thing to say, but it seems surprising to me.
"It's inevitable [growing old]--you just wait," Goines added. "I don’t mind it a bit. I've got good friends and I got a nice house that my father built and I have no complaints--no complaints at all."
David Goines said he is delighted that people are taking interest in his mother and her poem.
"She is not long for this Earth and it delights her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, as well as all those who know her and love her, that she is able to make a contribution to the world--even as she is leaving it," he said.