Page 63 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2017 - Online Magazine

Ronnie Milsap,

The Andrew Sisters

AND ME

BY KARA LESLIE Inspiration

When I was a new chaplain, my supervisor’s and each of us has our childhood favorites. We also
mom was in the hospital. I would visit her every occasionally find new songs to lift us up. As Spring
day because she liked the company, and she would arrives, I hope you will take the time to listen to
tell me funny stories about her son. We enjoyed the new songs being played around you – on the
our visits, and there was always old gospel music radio, on your phone, or by your grandchildren.
playing beside her bed. As her last days became You can even listen outside to the song of a pretty
her last hours, the music was turned off. Her room bird calling for a mate or to the warning “song” of
seemed empty without it. I remember going into a cat. I also hope you will enjoy some of your old
her room and singing Amazing Grace, holding her favorites and share them with those who may need
hand while I did. The Lord did not bless me with a new song. Music fills our lives and makes them
a good singing voice, and this faithful woman, so much richer. Enjoy the music of your life, and
who had been silent for hours, opened her eyes sing along.
and said to me, “It would be better if you didn’t
sing.” It was funny then, and it’s still funny now. I Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music
realized at that moment how powerful music was is the greatest treasure in the world. -Martin
for her and is for all of us. We all love good music, Luther
and it can powerfully impact our well-being.
Whenever we hear a happy song, we smile as
good thoughts enter our minds. Think back to
some of the silly songs you grew up with. Don’t
they take you back to a time and place when life
was easier and you were very happy? When I was
growing up, it seemed I always heard the same
song when I got into the car: “Don’t Sit Under the
Apple Tree,” by the Andrew Sisters. I learned to
sing along with it, and apples remind me of it to
this day. What songs make you smile? When was
the last time you let your lips sing a few lines of
an old song and let its melody warm your heart?
Sad songs are powerful, too. They can make us
cry as we remember what we have lost, people we
cared about and times in our lives when we were
whole and active. I once had a patient who had
lost her husband of many years. We talked about
her grief during our visits, and she said songs by
Ronnie Milsap always made her think of him. She
had a new CD player right beside her bed that a
relative had mailed to her, and she had five or six
Ronnie Milsap CDs that she had removed from an
old, dusty box. The problem was, she didn’t know
how to use her new player. I taught her how to
use it, and we listened to some of Ronnie Milsap’s
best songs. She sang along as tears flowed down
her cheeks. We marveled at how, even though
this particular artist was blind, he found his
way by finding the keys. I remember saying to
her that even when we cannot see through our
grief, we can find our way by holding onto songs,
memories, laughter, friends and faith.
Many spiritual songs bring us comfort and hope,
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