Inner Peace

Friday evening, December 20, 2013....it's like a beautiful Spring Evening outside tonight.  Tad and I sat  under the Deck just enjoying the warmish breezes.....Hard to believe Christmas is 5 days away

After being down with the Flu for a week or more, today I ventured out to the Long-Term Nursing Home where I did many of my Internship Hours.  I haven't been to see my Patients since right before Thanksgiving, so I was not surprised to be greeted with a new list of Patients, as 3 former Patients that I just loved had passed on.

It's very hard for me to explain just how comfortable I feel in this setting.  There is no apprehension, no time needed to get comfortable and adjust...I just slip into my role as a Therapeutic Musician and enjoy the ride.  The Staff was very happy to see me today, which always puts a little Sunshine in your day.  Today was the Christmas Party for the Residents and the Office Staff was making and serving Lunch to all the Residents.  I was chuckling at the Admissions Director, as this was clearly a learning experience for him!

My first Patient was "Mrs. Cranky" and believe me, she was hollering and crying when I got off the elevator.  A Nurse grabbed me and said, boy we need you down here...which was where I was headed anyway, lol   I started with Christmas Music as she continued to ask for help and told me she was a prisoner in her chair.  This continued on for 15 minutes and I decided to change up my music to Hymns and it seemed to work for a few minutes....she just whispered help instead of screaming...but she allowed herself a second-wind and after another 5 minutes she was screaming for me to get out.  Today was not a day that Therapeutic Music was helpful to her.  My heart goes out to her, as annoying as she was, it was a real fear.  She did feel trapped, scared and called for her Mum a couple times.  After some Meds and 1 1/2 hrs later, as I passed her room she was still at it.....heartbreaking

My next sweet patient was "the clapper".  She claps after each song, smiling and dozing off every couple minutes.  She is Palliative and loved the Christmas Music today.  I tried to keep everything at a slow, pulse tempo.  At one point her eyes were closed and her little fingers were going up and down on her chest.  Peaceful

As I was playing for my next Patient, again Palliative Care, I had the most wonderful interaction with the Director of the Facility.  She apologized for interrupting and introduced herself as the New Director.  She said she received my letter of thanks for allowing me to do Internship Hours at the Facility and I told her it was so good to finally meet her.  She said, "actually we have already had an encounter, you just didn't know it" and then went on to tell me that a few weeks ago as she was walking down the hall she saw a few Staff Members standing in a doorway so she walked down to see what was happening in the room.  She said she stood there with the Staff and they all cried, as I played for Miss Sue...who had not responded to anything or anyone in months and there she was with her eyes open, moving her little foot to the music.  It was wonderful for the Director to share this with me, we both got a little choked up, lol  Then she asked me how I got started in Therapeutic Harping and a host of other questions, trying to get to know me better.  There is a new facility opening up in February and I have been hired as a Therapeutic Musician starting then, but she asked me if I would play for the Open House as a resource for the Facility.  I loved her approach, as she understood exactly how I felt..."I don't perform, but I would be happy to be in the background playing music for the guests".  Perfect

From there I went to the Dayroom where 3 Patients were in wheelchairs, staring at nothing.  One was a very young girl who suffered from an accident, one a very old woman and very crippled and one an older man with obvious brain trauma.  I brought my Harp in and asked if they wanted some Christmas Music, the 2 women smiled so off we gooooooooo......I was trying to use the most familiar Christmas Music I could think of for memory recall and at one point I looked over at the older woman who just smiled the sweetest smile at me...just to raise her head enough to see me was such an effort.  When I was done I asked the young girl if she liked the music and did she remember any words...she just smiled so I played Silent Night again and sang it to her....just a sweet smile but no communication.  As I was leaving the room I heard her start singing!  I didn't understand the words but she was clearly singing.  I looked at the Nurse's Station and the Nurse was just smiling.  Compassion

My sweet Miss Sue was asleep when I got to her room.  Her roommate was sitting up enjoying her lunch.  Miss Sue is the patient that the Director was talking about.  I started to play a Christmas Song and the roommate said, "oh I am so lucky, I have Music with my lunch"...such a simple joy.  Miss Sue woke up right away and listened with her eyes open...she stayed engaged the entire 30 minutes.  Her Son, who comes everyday to feed her lunch, sat the last few minutes and listened and when each song was over he would rub her arm and say, 'isn't that beautiful Mom?"  Devotion

My last two patients are my heart's delight.  Mr. A asks the entire time I am playing, "does my Wife come to see me?"  "Does she love me?" and Mr. N who doesn't eat much without my Music.  The Staff was so happy to see me and Mr. N ate every bite of his lunch.  The Christmas Music was very effective for Mr. A and memory recall.  Today he remembered most of the words to the songs and told me him and his Mom would sing together while his Dad drove them in the Car.  I took this opportunity of clarity to ask him more questions about his parents and the kinds of songs they liked to sing and he said, "our favorite song in the world was Springtime in the Rockies".   So I told him I didn't know that one and he said,  "just listen to me sing it and you will learn it with me"  Sure enough, he remembered every word and was so tickled that I caught on.  If just for a short time, he was back in the current world.  Joyful

I will volunteer once a week until I am employed on February 1st....it is impossible to walk away from these beautiful souls.  They really give me inner peace.