The Wesley Anns from Heart of Longmont (we're Methodist, get it?) will have our final performance Christmas Eve at the 6:15 pm service. We sang ten performances this holiday season, a half-hour of Christmas carols old and new and a few holiday show tunes. We toured widely in Longmont.
The Wesley Anns are retired teachers, nurses, fund-raisers, physical therapists, realtors and librarians, a few housewives, most older than I, maybe three are younger. A few still working. I met the director, Diane Hansen (far left), through my husband Jesse: Diane is one of his work-out buddies at the YMCA. The group is sponsored by the United Methodist Women.
Our audiences were older adults (older than we are, that is) living in group residences, ranging from seniors-only apartment buildings to skilled care nursing homes. The responses of the audiences varied greatly. In the seniors-only places, the vibe was that of any public concert audience. At the nursing homes and adult day care, the audience participation consisted of shouts of "Help, help, help!" or "Ouch, ouch, ouch." One elderly woman vomited. A gentleman whistled The Marine Hymn.
At the end of our set, we invite the audience to sing one verse of Joy to the World and Silent Night. For those who are wandering in dementia, the music brings them home for Christmas. I've been told that music resides in a different part of the brain than speech, and that songs we learn in childhood are remembered long after we can no longer speak coherently.
In the assisted living facilities where the residents are mentally competent, many are lonely. At each place, we go to them individually to wish them a personal "Merry Christmas." One white-haired lady in a wheelchair put her soft, tiny hand in mine and said, "You all MAKE our Christmas."
I said, "Singing for you makes OUR Christmas."