A Home

When I called Comer to tell him I would be picking him and Evelyn up for lunch from their wonderful new Assisted Living/Alzheimer home, he said she was having a very bad day. She had fallen the day before they moved, and while xrays showed no breaks, her hip was very sore, and she was "a mess".
"She's crying and won't settle.... we can't go anywhere today. She couldn't make it to the car! She's doing very poorly."
I looked sadly at the plateful of deviled eggs I had prepared for her, the vase of roses I had picked from the tree Comer had planted 12 years ago, the music CD filled with songs from the 40s.
"Shall I come visit anyway?" I asked, "I won't stay long, but I have deviled eggs and music for her."
"That would be so nice," he said.

I had not yet seen this new facility. It looked like an old victorian style home. Old black and white shows from my childhood were on the television in the living room. French doors opened onto beautiful gardens with benches lining the paths. The hallways had dress stands with long wedding gowns and dresses from a time when cars were ticketed for exceeding 10 mph.  As Comer led me towards Evelyn's room, I glanced at a kitchen area with a big table, and some residents sat watching an aide whisk a mixture in a bowl. It smelled lemony. I saw Evelyn painfully shuffling towards the table.

"Evelyn!" I said, "Hello! I brought you deviled eggs made with my secret recipe!"
She looked up and smiled, "Oh good!"
The whisk quieted and two other aides came and stood near.
"Well?" they said,"We want to hear this secret ingredient."
"Here, try one and see if you can figure it out."
Evelyn popped one in her mouth, followed quickly by another.
"Can you tell what my secret ingredient is?"
"mmfssspghwpppp," she said, enjoying her third deviled egg.

"What are you making?" I asked the whisking aide.
"Lemon cake, from scratch."
"Are you following a recipe?"
"Oh no," she giggled, "I just hope it works....."
We all sat around the table as the sounds and smells of cake making oozed like comfort around us. This was a home that was truly recreating a home for these old folk.
"Look!" said the aide, pointing to the glass oven door, "It's rising!"
"Good for you! What other kinds of cakes can you make without a box?"
"Carrot cake."
"Oh, I love carrot cake."
"I do too," said Evelyn between bites of egg.

I held up the CD.
"Music, Evelyn!" and called out some of the song titles. She sang the first line from each one as I called out the name, both of us laughing with delight at her perfect recall. The lady next to Evelyn watched us mutely, but smiled. I asked her if she wanted a deviled egg. She didn't seem to quite know how to respond so I brought her one and helped her clasp her fingers around it. She held it uncertainly.
"You can eat it," I urged, "It has a secret ingredient. See if you can tell what it is."
The lady smiled and brought it to her mouth.

Evelyn was still humming the last song I had called out.
"Here," said an aide, reaching for the CD "Shall I put it on the CD player ?"
She turned on the music while I gave away my deviled egg secret ingredient.

Later, Comer led us both to Evelyn's room. Her sunny window looked out over grass and trees. She sat in her chair, and I taught Comer how to operate the CD player Kristin had brought. Evelyn looked on with studious interest and said, "Oh I see."
"So now you can have music whenever you want," I told her.
"Oh how nice!" she said, with a happy laugh.
Comer stared at her shaking his head.
"This is night and day how she was earlier!" he said baffled.
"I prayed on the way over," I said.
He cocked his head and pointed a finger at me, with a knowing nod and grin.
"And the music. You know how they say music soothes the savage beast."
Evelyn chuckled, "It does!"

As I left them, sitting side by side, eating deviled eggs and listening to "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime", a nurse from Comer's floor saw me.
"How was Comer's wife?" she asked.
"Oh much better. She loves deviled eggs and music."
"Oh," said the nurse, "I'll go tell the aide to put that on her care chart right away then! We better get in a supply of deviled eggs."

Joshua 23

¹ After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, ² summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. ³ You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 

Ruth 4:15
¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.