“Let’s stop and see Melvin,” my husband suggested. We had already been to one nursing home, but he wanted to see a man in another that we had known many years ago and was now suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Mel responded to our greeting a bit uncertainly, and, since I hadn’t seen him in forever, I asked if he remembered visiting at our house in New Orleans in the early 70’s. “We went to Mardi Gras!” I reminded him. I think it was the only time I’d ever gone, and we went because they had come from Kansas and asked us to take them. He said maybe he remembered, but I could see that he didn’t.
I was amazed that our friend looked so well--in his eighties, he could have been in his sixties. Dressed in sweats and seated in the recliner, he was the picture of health and still nice looking. It was hard to believe he was diagnosed as terminal. As Howard started a gospel CD and the warm notes of a “What a Lovely Name” filled the room, Mel stared intently at us. He asked who was singing. Howard told him, but he repeated the question several times.
A former musician and gospel singer, the patient seemed captivated by the music, his lips forming the words of the songs now and again as we sang to him. On one song, Howard’s glance to me revealed what I had already noticed: a sweat-sock clad foot resting on the recliner was keeping time to the music, a toe tapping the air with the beat.
Howard had brought his guitar--an instrument our friend had played all his life, and for many years with his own band--and at the close of a wonderful time of worship in song, Melvin stated simply, “That’s a good song.” The music had obviously touched a chord in him that went beyond memory.
When we took our leave, Melvin told us he appreciated it and asked us to come back, although I don’t think he ever knew who we were. A soft-spoken, genial personality, his good nature was preserved intact, a product of a lifetime of courtesy and polite manners. “They shall know you are Christians by your love,” says the words of a song. Jesus said this would be a hallmark of His disciples. Having likely sung that many times himself, I’m sure Melvin felt the kindred spirit we felt that day, a kinship of the heart.
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