As we sang, I could watch the faces watching us.
\nIn their bathrobes, some in wheelchairs, most very old,
\nsome watched intently, nodding to the familiar carols;
\nothers, hardly aware of us, stared at children, invisible,
\nnow replaced by familiar strangers who told the same story
\nfresh every day and showed pictures from the future.
\nOur music was a flight to the familiar; it raised them
\nfrom their chairs up to the recognizable\u2014
\nand so we spoke their tongue, their joy.<\/p>\n
Each time I sing in a nursing home for the elderly
\nand the chronically ill, I learn again that giving
\nis tricky: the faces are watching and so am I.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This evening, C-Way Sound sang carols for patients at the Sanfield Nursing Home in Cornwall. We make the rounds every year, quite happily. (#1005) Continue reading