Sarah's Song

Sarah is on hospice service with Alzheimer’s disease. She lives at home and is taken care of by her husband. He works so hard, and loves her as she is now, while remembering how she used to be. When I first visited, he was surprised at how Sarah responded to the music. She generally speaks nonsense and is in her own world, but with the music I provided, Sarah moved to the music, played a tambourine, and spoke her nonsense words in the rhythm of the songs I sang. Her husband was delighted! She looked at him several times as he held her hand and sang to her while I accompanied him on guitar. The next week when I visited, her husband greeted me at the door, and excitedly said, “You have no idea what you’ve started! Look at this!” He then showed me a video he’d taken of Sarah playing a tambourine he’d and moving to music, with him sitting next to her singing at looking into her eyes. He’d posted it on Facebook and received a lot of “likes.” Each week I visit, he has more stories to tell about the music they share. With Sarah and her husband, music has provided a connection that works through the muddiness of her disease, so that the couple is able to have some meaningful times together.

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