I usually work Saturdays, but I had this last Saturday off so when a friend asked if I wanted to go caroling, I jumped at the chance. The fact it was in the afternoon should have seemed a little strange... if I had thought about it. I mean, couples and groups go caroling at night… don't they? But it's been so long since I've sung for anyone, something I love to do, that I was too excited to notice.
Then we got to one of the nursing homes. Yep, I spent the entire afternoon and part of the evening singing door to door and up front in a dining all at cozy nursing homes. It was wonderful!
It reminded me of the important things, especially this time of year. I could have been doing a bunch of other things, mostly focused on my own entertainment, but this was so more fulfilling than anything else I could have been doing.
Music is so powerful. The residents just gravitated to it. Some of the people there couldn't remember their own names, but then they would start singing along to these traditional songs, recalling every familiar word. It amazed me.
We walked past this one room and the woman inside yelled out, "Someone help me. I need help." and as my friend turned back I heard one of the attendants at the desk say to another, "I just looked in on her, she's fine." My friend asked how we could help, while I walked the few steps back to the room with everyone else, and she said to him, "Just don't leave me alone. I want help just having some company."
My heart broke. We went in and sang a couple songs, ending with Jingle Bells, and the little kids that came with us were shaking these little bell bracelets to the beat. It was so cute. She thanked us for coming. She didn't want anything else. That was enough. And for us it was such a small, easy thing to do.
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