as a fellow person w/a AZ beloved person, I made my mom multiple pandora music lists of crooners and singers she'd loved, e.g. Mel Torme, Sinatra, Maurice Chevalier. She'd sing along, whole songs, or at least the chorus, grinning and tapping her foot.
When I worked on an ambulance we used this trick for folks with dementia & similar ailments. It worked. This was ages ago, but Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, and Sinatra were common favorites. We’d try a few songs & see if it helped with agitation or worry on a confusing ride for patients.
For at home I have a phonograph and some vinyls. He gets a kick out of playing his records, since he doesn’t remember me getting the record player. It’s a new gift every time.
Aw, that’s so sweet. Record players have a beautiful quality, it’s true. He’s blessed to have you. May you be strengthened and upheld with love as you stand by him in this time. 💗
There was a time when my late grandmother couldn’t consistently remember who I was, but could whisper along to every word of *Oklahoma!* Watching her laugh while singing “I Cain’t Say No” was a very bright patch in a very dark time…
Same. She thought I was the nice person who sang along with her, yet she could remember almost every song from My Fair Lady. A bright patch for me too...
Music resides in a different part of the memory, one that often persists for longer despite the assaults of dementia. Many people who can't remember faces can still remember songs.
Exactly www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT_t...
Same goes for manual skills like knitting. Sometimes the web of thought around it is gone, but when you hand them the needles and yarn, they start clicking happily away.
Which translates to trying to “knit” their IV lines, heart monitor leads, and any other yarn-shaped thing when in the hospital. 😂 Bless those sweet hearts. Sometimes all you can do at 2 am is pour some coffee, have a chat, and let them fold the same stack of wash cloths over and over. ❤️