Work can be good medicine

Today I was feeling a bit down as yesterday the heat pump went on the blink (with temps at 4 degrees outside!) and today I had to take my car in for a repair.  All is fine but sometimes things like that add up and I started to slide into a downward spiral.   As I can set my own hours at the hospital, I didn't have go in today but I knew it would be a way to lift me up.

And lift me up it did! The first floor I visited, I was sent to a room to play for a very sweet elderly woman.  Family members were visiting her as I played and everyone really appreciated the music. What you can't see in the picture (won't post pictures of patients for confidentiality reasons) above is the lady's smiling face after she got us all laughing as she kept saying "cheese" to get us to smile. I rarely pose for photos at the hospital but sometimes people ask me to.

After that uplifting encounter, I was well received by another patient with family visiting. I learned that they were from Southwest VA. This led to a lively conversation about The Carter Family Fold  and I told them about my days studying the mountain dulcimer and playing in fiddle conventions down there. I have seen that people from that region take great pride with their historic achievements. Having grown up in Chicago,  I have enjoyed getting know the music of the mountain people and Virginia.

I left the hospital feeling so much better. People often say, "you are so nice to do that work" but I can tell you--it helps me a lot too.

Have you ever had one of those days where you felt down and you found a way to lift yourself up with others?