Singing a Parrot to sleep

This is George,  remember him? I talked about him a few months ago. He's a blind parrot.  He lives at a nursing home I visit and before yesterday, I had never heard him talk.  Yesterday though, he was talking a lot! His favorite thing to say is, "Hi George." This is because he mimics others saying this to him.

I was struck by singing with this group of seniors yesterday of how unusual it really is to think that all of us are from different places and backgrounds and yet we all knew the same songs.  I find it so interesting how animated and happy the old school songs make people to sing.  Sometimes I ask others for songs they'd like to sing and they will ask for one we already sang. Instead of telling them we already sang it,  we sing it again with the same enthusiasm as if it was the first time around. No one seems to notice or mind.

I see how singing familiar songs brings them so much happiness.  People who you can see do not have homes of their own or family to visit them or nice clothes or anything to identify them with a certain social class.   Music breaks down all those barriers. It does not matter how old or young, rich or poor, black or white, rural or city. Music is a connector.

I love it when I see that a certain song can bring a special kind of happiness to someone. How their eyes light up and they smile like they remembered a great secret. We are all living our private memories and yet also creating new memories in the moment.   It is such a bonding that goes on. After we finish, I walk around talking and thanking them for coming and they reach their hand out to mine. We shake hands and they say, "you come back again, soon!"

P.S.   George fell asleep after a few songs we sang. He slept through most of the songs.  I have come to know when animals sleep when you sing, that's a good sign.