After the 2010 AMTA Conference last weekend in Cleveland, I had the good fortune of visiting my grandfather, whom I hadn’t seen in 16 years! I stayed with my aunt and uncle and rented a car to drive out to the country to visit him.
He is 90 years old, lives by himself, drives, makes his own meals, does his own laundry. On top of that, he manages an enormous vegetable garden that boasts hundreds of tomatoes, squash, green beans, rhubarb, cabbage, and much much more… While I was there, I captured a few of his stories about WWII, his take on life, death, and love. I told him that I’d like to share his stories with others so we can all learn from his life experiences. He was very excited about the idea! Then I asked my mom, and she thought this would make a nice tribute, too. Here’s the 4-minute trailer to the 90-minute full feature film, available to family by Christmas 2010.
I’m sharing this video because it pertains to my work as a music therapist. There are so many stories relayed in my older adult groups, but there are even more stories that don’t fit into a 50-minute session! For someone who is so closely related to me, it feels very special to have captured these stories. If Grampa participated in one of my sessions, I’d probably invite him to drum with me to Over There, Remember Pearl Harbor, or the Marine Corps Hymn in between stories.
Part of the beauty of making music is that while you reminisce, the music makes the stories relevant to the present moment. Making music brings it all together in the NOW.
Thanks Grampa for all of your inspiration and rich stories!
If you liked this post, you’d probably like People Inspire Me, too.
Kat – what a wonderful post! Makes me miss my grandparents, the last of whom passed away five years ago. I love hearing about the wisdom of those who have accumulated enough life experience to know how the world works
Thanks! He’s my last remaining grandparent, so I’m blessed to have visited with him =)
6 months to live… then a promise to only welcome kind words in the house. That powerful energy and intention turned into 7 years on life! Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this Kat.
Pretty amazing what kindness can do =) Thanks for watching, Amy.