While helping Mom put together a particularly vexing jigsaw puzzle last Monday, the activities director of the nursing home came by and invited me to come along to hear "a doo-wop singer from New York that I know you'll love." The concert was scheduled for yesterday.Claire came with me. Mom was already down in the dining area, a big and very pretty room that reminds me of a nice restaurant. The food served there does the same. And Mom loves it.
We were a little early but the place was full. We greeted several of the people we know already and introduced ourselves to a couple more. We waved to the activities director across the room but she was on her way over to break the bad news, "Denny, I'm so sorry but the doo-wop singer got sick and had to cancel. I had to hustle around and just 45 minutes ago I got another gentleman to help us out. His name is Bill Neiderhiser and he's very good...but he does country music. Really, I'm so sorry."
She needn't have been. We had an absolutely wonderful time.
The most important thing, of course, was just being with Mom. True, I see her just about every day but doing something like this is a nice treat. And the event itself was also grand. Volunteers serving up ice cream. Bill thoughtfully doing songs that related well to his audience and even getting them to sing along. Watching how so many of these elderly people got deep into the music -- tapping toes, singing along, swaying in their wheelchairs as if remembering the days they swayed along the ballroom floor.
There were songs from Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Hank Williams. Old folk standards like "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" and "When the Saints Go Marching In." And when Bill came to that last song, "You Are My Sunshine," and he backed off the mike and quit playing the guitar so we could all hear the group singing of those plaintive lyrics, there were few eyes that weren't glistening with tears.
It was a very moving afternoon, beautifully painted with the love, respect and care given to these dear residents by the staff, volunteers, family members...and a very talented, tender-hearted country music player.
Claire and I have season tickets to the Omaha Symphony and we love attending those performances. But we may have never been to as profoundly soul-stirring a concert as Bill Neiderhiser's at Life Care Center yesterday afternoon.
