Oregon brothers find music can break through solitude of Alzheimer's disease

When I read the article, I was reminded of one of my patients, an elderly and frail woman of German descent that I took care of in a nursing home. We called her "Nannie", as her family had directed us. Nannie was close to 100 years and was not 'popular' with the other aids or nursing staff, because Nannie could be very vocal, as in yelling/screaming a lot. Plus, if she was out of sorts, she would strike out at people with her fingernails.

When I first went to work at the nursing home, I was given some of the 'difficult' patients. Nannie disliked me at first, but that was ok because it was my job to take care of her, "Come hell or high water", so to speak..lol.

On more than one occasion, I was told to leave the patient I was taking care of at the time and "go do something with Nannie because she's in the hallway screaming again". There was one time when I found her in her wheelchair in the dark shower room with the door closed. I couldn't prove who had placed her in there, but it sure p***ed me off.

Anyway, I loved Nannie, she was like the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead - "when she was good, she was very, very good. When she was bad, she was a real stinker". I took very good care of her, making sure she had on clean clothes, had her long white hair done up in a neat bun.. and I gave her hugs.

At Christmas one year, Nannie was in one of her 'moods', so I took her into the Rec room to try and distract her from whatever was causing her to be upset. Someone was playing the piano and I wheeled Nannie's chair over closer so she could hear the music. The song was "O Tannenbaum" ("Oh Christmas Tree", a German song). Nannie sat quietly for a moment and then she began to sing softly, in a quavery voice, the German words to the song.

I listened to Nannie and watched her face as she sang herself back to her childhood.. An emotion welled up inside of me with no warning and I began to cry. That old woman that no one except me, liked, and I was priveledged to catch a glimpse back into her past when she was young and happy. My eyes are tearing up now just remembering that special gift that Nannie gave me.

Sooo, thank you again, W.W. for posting this article..

Piletre, you treated Nannie as if she were your own. This is every families' dream for their loved one. It is unusual for Northern America, not so unusual in older countries. So, there you were, with a woman from "the old country" singing as they do in the old countries...............oh what a lovely story. Thank you for loving Nannie as if she were your own.

All the Best to you,

Kara

Kara, well, thank you.. :-) I was raised to have respect for my elders. After working in the nursing home for awhile and seeing some of the things that 'went on', I told hubby that if I ever got to the place where I needed to go into a 'home', just shoot me instead, or leave the bottle of pills within my reach.

I totally agree!! Not much of the staff really care like you did in those places. I'm for moving out of the country into an older culture, where they actually do.............just in case it happens to me. I'll bet you have a Durable Medical POA. I know I do......

I have known for years that without music, reading and writing my soul would wither and die. It stands to reason that I wouldn't be the only one in the world like that.

I know its never that, silly-head, and it is a wonderful quote.

I prefer to say "there's a hand reaching to pull you out of the waters."