Rocking Around the Clock

My geriatric friend Comer had told me his favorite singer was Englebert Humperdinck. Asherel and I scoured music stores and CD Warehouse for weeks, but we could not find Humperdinck CDs. We found some hits from the 50s, and some Elvis albums, and settled for that. Then right before we were to go pick up our old friends for our weekly drive and fast food fest, Asherel asked if I would like her to download Englebert from the iTunes store. There was one album.

Comer and Evelyn were sitting on the porch of the Assisted Living Home waiting for us when we pulled in a few minutes late. I was busting with excitement.
"Have I got a surprise for you!" I exclaimed, leaping from the car. Evelyn was beaming, with a sparkling smile of recognition.
"Evelyn! You look gorgeous! It is so good to see you!" I said hugging her.
"Well," she laughed, "It is good to see you too!"
She hadn't said a single coherent sentence last visit, so it was clear that for today, the demons of Alzheimer had retreated a bit.
I even ventured to offer her a choice in our fast food take out.Often choices are too overwhelming for her, but it goes against every fiber of my being to make choices for a sentient adult.
"Fried chicken again, or burgers?"
"Chicken!" she nodded, her smile still wide and lovely.
I pushed my luck with a second question, "Breast or thigh?"
"Breast," she nodded, her eyes focusing on me like they did in the days before her disease had progressed.
"You seem really happy today," I said.
"When you're smiling," she sang.
I sang with her, to the end of the song, after which we both crumpled in laughter and I think even Asherel smiled from the front seat.
"That sure is true," said Comer, listening to the words of the song, as he got in his side of the van.

"Ready for your surprise?" I asked Comer.
He is hard of hearing, so I cranked the radio speaker to which the iPod was linked full blast. I scream at my family for doing this because as of yet, no one is hard of hearing but me, and the volume at which they listen to music is certainly felling the otolythic crystals that remain to conduct sound waves in my inner ear.
Comer smiled as the music trumpeted against his ear drum.
"Oh my, he sure can sing, can't he?"
Evelyn knew every song, as usual, and sang along. Even I knew most of them and sang the phrases I remembered.The two, as usual held hands and we collected our fried chicken and drove to the "old money" neighborhood. Comer loves looking at big houses. He never seems to tire of it. When the Englebert album ended, I told them we would try the 50s album next. It was filled with upbeat songs, like "Rock Around the Clock" which I didn't expect my old friends to know or like. However, as soon as the rocking rolling vibes filled the car, Evelyn's foot started tapping, her hands swaying, and she began singing Rock Around the Clock. I sang along and danced from the waist up in the driver's seat. The car behind me honked as I missed the change of lights, rocking with Evelyn. I saw Comer in my rear view mirror jiggling back and forth to the beat as well. Asherel was videotaping me, promising that payback was coming in the form of a movie she intended to make of me making a fool of myself.

Then when the song ended, with an evil smile, she switched on her iPod gallery of videos and the sound of me straining through Eidelweiss, playing my guitar in fits and stops and singing came over the speakers. Evelyn began laughing, but then we both sang along. When there would be long pauses as I searched for the correct chord, Evelyn chortled happily. I have never had so much fun being humiliated.

When the song ended, Comer said, "Well now, was that you playing guitar?"
"Yes," I said.
"You didn't sound bad," he said.
"Ready for TV?" I laughed.
"Well you might want a little more practice for that," he said.

We pulled back into the senior home then, and still laughing, I opened the door and helped Evelyn out.
"That was fun," I said.
"It sure was," she said, still chuckling, while I brushed the fried chicken crumbs off her shirt.

In the book of Isaiah, the rebellious people have abandoned God's way and He warns them of the punishment to come in judgement of their disobedience. I find it curious that in that time, God mentions that the young will rise up against the old.  The implicit message is of course that in the right way of things, the old should be honored, revered, loved.  But it seems that so often the old are shuttered away, ignored, and disrespected, the wealth of their wisdom and experience lost to the people who need it the most....the young.
I never come away from my time with Comer and Evelyn without a deep sense of joy and satisfaction.

"I will pick you up next Friday," I said, hugging my old, still smiling friends goodbye.
"How about if we find barbecue next time?" asked Comer.
"You got it," I said waving.

Isaiah 3

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

 ¹ See now, the Lord,
   the LORD Almighty,
is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah
   both supply and support:
all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
 ² the hero and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
   the diviner and the elder,
³ the captain of fifty and the man of rank,
   the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.  ⁴ “I will make mere youths their officials;
   children will rule over them.”
 ⁵ People will oppress each other—
   man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will rise up against the old,
   the nobody against the honored.

The Devil Chased from the Deviled Eggs

When I walked in to the Alzheimer unit to pick up Comer and Evelyn, two unfamiliar women sat on the bed talking with them. Normally I get Comer from his building across the campus, and then we drive over to Evelyn's building. He called me cryptically before I left the house and told me to meet him at Evelyn's place. When I arrived, Comer and Evelyn were holding hands and Evelyn looked up at me, and smiled brightly.
"Are you the neighbor who takes Comer and Evelyn out every week?" asked one woman. She had a clipboard in her hand.
"One of them," I answered, "And we have a treat for today! Evelyn, I have a whole CD full of songs from the 40s!"
"Oh my!" she said, her eyes sparkling.
"Will you still be taking them out when they go to Sunrise?"
I paused and glanced at Comer. He grinned slyly back at me.
"Sunrise?" I asked.
"They will be moving there Tuesday," answered the other woman.
Evelyn's cheeks were sliding right off her face, she was smiling so big.
"Will they be together?" I asked.
All four heads bobbed.
"Same building, separated only by an elevator. They can see each other as long as they want, as often as they want, all day, every day."
"Oh Evelyn!" I cried, clutching her hand in mine, "No more saying Goodbye!"
"Yes," she said, laughing.
"Well then this will be a celebration lunch!" I said.
"Then we will be out of your hair," said the Sunrise representative. She leaned over and shook Comer's hand, "And we will see you Tuesday."

As we headed to the elevator, I said, "Comer! How did you keep this a secret?"
"I wanted to tell you myself, and see your face."
"Oh Evelyn, you must be so happy! What is your favorite food so we can celebrate in style!?"
Without pausing, she said, "Deviled eggs!"
"Evelyn...you're killin' me here.....I don't know any fast food place that sells deviled eggs. What is your second favorite?"
"Fried Chicken."
"Ok- we can do that, and how about a milkshake?"
"Oh yes!"
"And Asherel is ready in the car with a CD filled with songs you will know."
"Oh! Asherel is here!" said Evelyn merrily, her bubbling joy sincere.

We only spilled the milkshake once as we meandered through rainy neighborhoods. There were 50 songs on the CD and Evelyn knew every one. Somehow, in between singing, she managed to eat her entire meal, and all but the little bit of spilled milkshake.
"She's eating again," said Comer smiling, in reference to her month or so of listlessly wasting away.
"She sure seems like someone who discovered a reason to keep living," I said, smiling back at him.
"She sure seems to," he agreed.

As we returned to the Alzheimers Center, Evelyn gripped my arm offered in support, and we quietly sang , "When you're smiling...." which has become our anthem. As we passed a woman with a slack face, clutching her walker, she glanced up and began singing with us. We stopped in front of her and finished the song together.
"You have a lovely voice!" I told her, taking her hand in mine.
"I don't know where it's been hiding....maybe in my toes," she answered, patting my hand.
"Happy Easter everyone," I called to the solemn group of elderly folk ringing the room.
"Happy Easter," said one perpetually grinning man in a wheelchair.

Resurrections come in many sizes. There is of course the Big one, the one we will celebrate on Sunday. That is Resurrection with a capital R. But there are little resurrections too, daily resurrections where hope that was but a flicker rekindles and songs from long ago leap across time to settle on ears that had ceased to listen for angels, for the triumph of miracles. And sometimes when you are smiling, the whole world really is smiling too.

Psalm 27:5-7

⁵ For in the day of trouble
   he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
   and set me high upon a rock.
 ⁶ Then my head will be exalted
   above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
   I will sing and make music to the LORD.

When You are Smiling

As soon as Evelyn saw Comer and me walk into the Alzheimer Unit, she smiled.
"Well you seem happy," I said.
"What a smile!" said Comer.
Suddenly Evelyn began to sing, "When you're smiling, when you're smiling...."
"The whole world smiles with you," I sang in unison.
She beamed at me and we linked arms singing as we approached my car. Asherel sat in the front seat watching us, trying to control the horror in her eyes.
"But when you're crying, you bring on the rain," sang Evelyn.
"So keep on smiling, be happy again!" I crooned.
"When you're smiling, when you're smiling! The whole world smiles with you!" we belted out together.
"Well now," said Comer, "That was right pretty."
"How about this one," I said, "You are my sunshine...."
"My only sunshine," sang Evelyn.
When we finished that one, I called out, "Bicycle built for two!"
"Daisy, daisy, give me your answer true...." we sang.
"Alfie!" I called back from the front seat.
"What's it all about, Alfie.....," her voice rang out in perfect tune.
"White Cliffs of Dover!"
"There'll be bluebirds over, the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow just you wait and seee....."
"Red Sails in the Sunset!"
"Red sails in the sunset, way out on the sea, come carry my loved one, home safely to me...."
When she faltered, which was seldom, on the words, I remembered them. Together we reprised the 1940s and 50's. Comer joined in on some of the ballads, but mostly just listened, his mouth agape like he didn't know this woman he had lived with for 75 years.
"You have a beautiful voice!" I told Evelyn, "How do you remember all those songs?"
"I do remember them," she said, beaming.
"I didn't know you knew all those!" said Comer, "I wasn't expecting such a fine concert today."

I remember them because they are the songs I used to sing with my dad on our Sunday drives. While all my friends were listening to rock and roll and heavy metal, I was crooning Judy Garland ballads. The only time on the 2 hour drive we were silent was when the KFC chicken was handed back to the old couple holding hands. Evelyn ate every bite of her two piece meal.

When we returned to the Alzheimer center, I didn't give her a chance to collapse into the inevitable tears and dismay. As I pulled the car to the door, I began singing, "When you're smiling....."
She joined in, "When you're smiling.... the whole world smiles with you."
I started dancing, "When you're laughing, when you're laughing..."
She swayed to the music, her arms linked in mine and danced beside me, "The sun comes shining through!"

As we waltzed through the chairs of slack faced men and women lost in the throes of Alzheimer's, Evelyn and I were still singing and dancing, Comer following behind. The startled faces lifted and watched us.
"You know Evelyn had three pieces of fried chicken at lunch," shouted out one of the aides.
"And we just fed her two more," I said.
Evelyn looked slyly at me and giggled.

As Evelyn settled onto her bed, her face took on briefly the look that always preceded weeping.
"When you're smiling," I sang softly, as I helped her feet up over the edge of the bed.
"When you're smiling," she sang along.
Comer and I shuffled out the door, and as we closed it behind us, we heard her still singing.

Proverbs 15:13
A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Job 29:24
²⁴ When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
   the light of my face was precious to them.