The Old Folks Home

For mutual today we went to an old folks home. Service hours, do a little good, whatever. But it turned out to be more for me.

We went in to sing songs and what not, keep the old people company. We were specifically assigned to the special needs ward--which houses the alzheimers patients. Now, I'd never really had any pleasant experiences in old folks homes...especially with alzheimer patients. The last one I went to, old men were trying to grab me and it was a bit scary to say the least. But this time was different. The lady that was in charge had to be the most genuine, caring person I'd ever met. She treated each old person as if they were her best friend, and you could see the love she had for each one of them. She knew each of them by name, knew each of their stories, and could get each of them to talk. So tender.

Of course, in our little talent show, I was the pianist. Lisa (the lady in charge) told us the story of how they got the piano in that ward. Apparentally there was a patient there who was an accomplished pianist. Her husband brought her a piano so she could play. She played every day, by memory, all of these fantastic songs. About four months ago, she passed away. Her husband donated the piano, but since then, no one has played it. I felt so privileged to play that little upright piano.

Then after, I got to talking with some of the old folks. One lady in particular, Betsy, was fascinating. She was an english professor at the University of Illinois. We got to talking about Illinois, and Chicago, and how she didn't really go to clubs because she dated older guys who weren't into that kind of stuff but never got married because she liked the single life...but maybe in the future she'd like to get married. She was just so fun to talk to, even if she wasn't completely coherent. There was something so intreguing about her, that I just wanted to talk more. I felt like I could learn so much from her, even if her mind wasn't completely there.

All of the old people had their quirks. There was the one lady who gave everyone hugs and kisses because she just loved everyone. There was the old man visiting his wife like he does every day twice a day...because they had been married for 60 years. There was the lady who wanted to make it known that we were all beautiful, and repeated her self nearly every minute.

And I got to thinking...these people...these frail, shrivelled, old people, were just like me. Just like everyone I know. Young, vivacious, full of life. They had character. They had relationships. They had lives. Now they sit in a home, unable to put together coherent thoughts, some of them, and many of them don't even have a family that comes to visit them. How sad? I want to know more. What is going on inside of their heads? Are they reliving their glory days? Are they totally happy with themselves but can't express it? It's something I can't quite comprehend, but I feel like I can learn so much from them. And so I decided, that I want to be around them more. I want to help them, help bring them some life. I want to come by for an hour or two a week and just play the piano. Sit, and let them enjoy themselves, because music has a powerful effect on people. Then I can get to know some of them better. I feel that I'm in a place in my life right now that I need to stop focusing so much on me, and maybe focus on something else. Help other people. Use my talents to make other people happy.

Anyway...I guess old people really aren't that bad!