I wanted to share something with the group here. I’ve been playing the uke for 11 months now. I travel for work and visit my family who lives outside of Chicago as often as I can. My Mom has had dementia for the last 3 years. For the last 10 months she has required 24 hour care and has been in a memory care facility. I received a call that hospice people had been called in. I got there on Wednesday morning after dropping my bags off at my Dad’s house to drive over with him. I brought my uke that I keep at my Dad’s with us. I had never brought it there in my visits before. There were many things that came together that day….unplanned…that made for a very peaceful passing for my Mom. I want to share one of them here. Everyone but me stepped out to the dining room for lunch….and I finally had a bit of time to myself with her. I tuned my uke and played Aura Lee (because she loves Elvis and it is the melody of Love Me Tender) and Dream a Little Dream because I thought she would like it. I played them a few times….She passed away within 5 minutes afterwards. It really meant alot to me to be able to play for her. Hearing is the last sense to go, so she heard it and I think it helped her know things were all ok. She loved music and it felt right for that to be the last thing she heard.
One of my many fond uke experiences—
Thanks for reading this