Tonight, Con's Cubscout den went to a local nursing home. There the boys sang a few carols (accompanied by moi on the baby grand piano...wow was it loud) and then helped the elderly play bingo.
M* said I didn't practice enough (thanks for being honest) but I was prepared to play 3 songs from my Christmas song book. And one of the other leaders asked me to play from a newspaper songbook. But (here the come excuses) the music holder was really high and the newspaper print was small and hard to read. After the first song, I found the other songs in my own book and it went more smoothly. Of course, perhaps if the boys had been given some practice time...then it would have been louder too.
My youngest and squirreliest needed to be removed from the dining room while the residents played bingo. He is noisy and they are hard of hearing. Not that he was the loudest. But not a Scout, he could sit it out.
After a while, in the foyer/hallway, he settled down and an elderly gentleman came through to ask the receptionist a question. So turning around, I greeted him and he stopped to chat with us for a while. At first he was interested in E* and his name...which he always gives his full name if you ask him his identity. So we talked about names for a while. Then we talked about scouting. And I introducted him to our new friend. His name is Charles and he had the Boy Scout motto, law and promise memorized! He told us about his family. (He had a "yours, mine and ours" set up.) And about one son who had 4 years left of service before he could retire and a daughter who lived in CA and could work from home on her computer.
When the scouts started leaving, E and I wheeled him to the dining room so he could say hello to anyone he knew. Then we wheeled him to the elevator. C shook his hand and E and M gave him hugs.
I think we need to "adopt" him...or at least send him cards to brighten his day. I can't imagine being put into a home. How say, lonely, dreary. The poor man just wanted to make a phone call...but not at the nurses' station on his floor where things are so congested and busy. I'm sure it would be difficult for him to hear on a phone with so much commotion. So as soon as I get the sewing projects finished, we'll be making and sending a card to our new friend, Mr. Charles!
2 comments:
And there you have the true meaning of Christmas. THanks for sharing your story. God bless you and God bless Mr. Charlie.
Dawn, my little Cub Scout is now 21 years old, but your post brought back memories: we didn't have anyone connected that could play piano, and they are kinda shy at 2nd and 3rd grade, so we did karoake to the old holiday tunes, dressed them up in bow ties and sweaters so they looked like Bing Crosby, Perry Como & Frank Sinatra from the '50's. What a hoot. Had those senior citizens rockin' out!
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