Music at Hospice

Last night was Hospice night again. We were invited into 6 or 7 rooms to play and sing. One gal was all alone in her room, she's losing her battle with cancer. She requested 50's or 60's stuff, we did a couple Rick Nelson tunes and Del's "Little Runaway" among others

As we were leaving, she said "Don't let anyone tell you you're not making a difference. Before you guys came in here I was having a lot of pain. Now it's gone!"

That was kinda like one of those chip-in golf shots that keep you coming back for more!

Wonderful! Way to go, Dread!

That's a fabulous ministry, Dread.

Yeah, at first I was a bit apprehensive about going into the Hospice Center with guitars, but we're getting overwhelming approval from the patients and their families.

We see this everywhere we go - people feel better when they get live music and they're able to participate with it. Studies have proven that sing-alongs are equivalent to a workout in terms of the physical benefits to your body. Heart rate goes up, blood pressure decreases, stress levels go down, patients sleep better, their need for medication decreases. And especially important for the Hospice patients, it just plain makes people feel better.

I'll probably never be a licensed musical therapist, but as the ancient Chinese proverb I once found in a fortune cookie said "Best not to tell man it cannot be done if he already doing it." :lol:

Fantastic Dread! Your fighting the good fight

Thanks guys, but I don't really need the kudos, I'm already getting so much fulfillment from these gigs. I am hoping to inspire some more of you to do the same thing with your music though I know a lot of guys here are already going to nursing homes, hospitals, veterans facilities, etc. , we've had several threads on the subject before. What a great matchup - we love to sing and play our Guilds, and people need therapeutic music, not to mention a lot of them just plain need visitors in general. There is so much need and so few resources. Sometimes I feel pretty insignificant in the whole scheme of things.

But then I thought of the story I heard about the young boy strolling down the beach with his grandfather. The boy kept picking up starfish from the beach and throwing them into the ocean. His grandfather asked him why he was doing that, and he replied "They're drying out so I'm saving their lives, Grampa!" His grandfather said "Son, there are millions of starfish on the beach that will die today, certainly you're not making a big difference." As the boy tossed another starfish into the sea he said "Well, I just made a difference to that one!"

Great stuff you guys are doing. It's difficult to say enough about the joy you bring to people in that stage of their lives. And it's also difficult to explain how good/rich it makes YOU feel.
It's certainly a sweet trade-off and it is indeed a matter of every little bit having meaning. :wink:

Allow me to raise an early Saturday toast to you,
Joe

GREAT STUFF DREAD I too like the idea of what you are doing.......and YES, I will likely take that on in my area too! I would enjoy that, and hopefully BE enjoyed as well.......so YEP, I WILL give it a GO! I like the starfish story too! .......whats that song...From little things big things GROW!!! spread the GOODNESS!

You go, SG!

Good job, Marc...

Amen, to all that's been said above Dread.

Good on ya mate !!

killdeer43 said:

Allow me to raise an early Saturday toast to you,
Joe

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Like this?
8)

It's great that you are doing that dred. This subject in particular is very near and dear to my heart. I haven't brought it up because I'm new to this board and haven't posted alot...and I didn't want to depress everyone... but my mother passed away a few weeks ago (10/14/09). She had a catagory 4 brain tumor and spent her last 3 months in a hospice. We took care of her at home as long as possible...but, the hospice was far better equiped to take care of her in the final stages of the disease. There care givers at that particular hospice were some of the best, loving, and attentitive people one could ever hope for to take care of their dying loved ones. I went to see her and spend time with her every spare moment that I was off from work. There were singers who came in and played gospel for the patiants and they were such a blessing. I should have played for those patiants too, but my heart was aching so bad and I would get choked up seeing my mothers steady decline. She had one of the sharpest minds of anyone I've ever known and it really hurt to see her lose that little by little. I know that God has a time for everyone to die and I knew that if it was her time that no amount of praying would change His plan. So, I prayed for God to bring her home gently to make it as painless as possible. I can tell y'all honestly that she didn't have any pain at all...not even a head ache....it was a miracle and a prayer answered. Even the caregives were shocked by the lack of pain that she had all the way to the end. I believe the prayer was answered because I prayed for Thy will to be done...not my will.

Anyway, after the holidays I think I'm going to go back and play some songs for them.
Thanks for doing what you're doing dred I believe that Jesus will put a jewel in your crown for the joy you have passed on to heavy burdened among us!
mike

Thank you for sharing that story with us, jimi.

I'm sorry for your loss, but glad you have some peace and comfort in her lack of suffering.

That would be great if you can play for others. I think that one of the ways to ease our own life's sorrows is to give ourselves away to others.

fronobulax said:

killdeer43 said:

Allow me to raise an early Saturday toast to you,
Joe

Click to expand...

Like this?
8)

Click to expand...

No - like this...
:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

JerryR said:

fronobulax said:

killdeer43 said:

Allow me to raise an early Saturday toast to you,
Joe

Click to expand...

Like this?
8)

Click to expand...

No - like this...

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

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And now, on this frigid Sunday morning, would you pass the jam, please? :wink:

Joe

We put what we call 'marmalade' on our breakfast toast here - suppose you'd call it orange jam :roll:

JerryR said:

We put what we call 'marmalade' on our breakfast toast here - suppose you'd call it orange jam :roll:

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You know, I had a feeling you'd be lurking and catch me on the 'jam' so I contemplated adding
marmalade to the table....but I left it in the fridge! :wink:
Next time!

Joe