We’ll Meet Again

I had a really lovely experience last week that I wanted to share with you. It was both sad and uplifting all at the same time, but I’m so glad that I was part of it, as it opened my eyes to things we often take for granted. I visited a care home in Sheffield which specialises in looking after people suffering with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They were to be offered some light entertainment for the afternoon in the form of a sing-along. My Step-Dad and I began to set up our PA System, taking care to set the volume low so as not to upset delicate ears, and the crowds began to pour in. There’s a real stillness to care homes I often find, as the residents move about the corridors slowly and silently, but our arrival this day had created a buzz and many were whispering and muttering as they took their arm chairs in the communal lounge area. I hadn’t expected so many to be coming to hear and I grew a little nervous for my Dad and I as we began to catch snatches of grumpy commentary.

“Why do we have to come and watch this? It’s rubbish!”

“I want to stay in my room. You can’t make me listen.”

“What are those idiots doing here anyway?”

Oh dear. I had to mentally assure myself that many of the residents were constantly negative due to their illness, and I shouldn’t take it personally. But we needn’t have worried. The minute my Step-Dad began his Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, it was like magic swept through the air. It started with some toe-tapping and then some swaying, and before we knew it, the elderly were out of their seats and up on their feet on the carpet before us. They grabbed the hands of their carers and allowed themselves to be swept around in circles with huge smiles on their faces. Isn’t music a fascinating thing! Many of these people failed to recognise members of their own family and shut off from a conversation they were having with you after just a few seconds, yet they were able to sing word for word along to their favourite songs of the past. ‘White Cliffs of Dover’ and ‘Sweet Caroline’ went down particularly well, but I was choked with emotion when ‘We’ll Meet Again’ moved one man to tears, and he requested it again and again. I answered calls for ‘Que Sera Sera,’ ‘When I Fall in Love’ and ‘Valerie’ and dancing among the residents, I found myself beaming and having a thoroughly enjoyable time, as they were too. This was the highlight of their day, their week, maybe month. But there were three important things I took away with me.

The first is that my sister is an angel. I watched as she moved around the room, chatting with the vacant faces in the armchairs until she brought them to life. She really has a knack for engaging with people and I was so proud of her for what a beautiful warm and giving person she is.

The second was from an old lady called Elizabeth. I sat next to her and she took my hand and told me all about her wonderful husband. She said he had been the one true love of her whole life and when he passed away, she had been unable to carry on and her world had just fallen to pieces until she was unable to look after herself anymore. Hence she had been brought here. When she described him and the memories they had made together her pretty eyes lit up bright and I felt my own eyes watering as I listened. Love really is the be all and end all, isn’t it? And if in life we are able to love someone with all our hearts as Elizabeth had, then nothing else really matters, does it?

Which leads me on to the third. We all need to cherish the people who mean the world to us and never, ever take them for granted. I looked around at my family who I was with, and thought about the rest of my family at home, and all the other precious people who through the years have come to be my close friends, and I felt truly blessed. This life is so fleeting and we need to treat every single day as the most important opportunity you are ever going to get to say a big thank you. Make sure you take a moment today to turn to those you love and let them know how much they mean to you. Even if it’s only in the form of a big smile or a tight hug. They might think you’re crazy, but so what. Peace, love and sunshine sparkles. xoxo