DEDHAM — Carla shook a tambourine, while Dorothy played the xylophone and Leni tapped her palms gently on an African drum. Vivian declined an instrument, but shimmied her shoulders when the music moved her.
Their walkers stood ready and their voices were wispy with age, but the eight group members sang with purpose, remembering every word of the Doris Day classic without prompting.
Comments
I have witnessed the extraordinary connection Alan makes with folks who have memory loss, and those who haven't had memory loss, and the experience is transcendent and beautiful. Thank you to Globe reporter Karen Weintraub for including practical information on how people can approximate some of these strategies at home - play music in the evening, start your loved one moving/dancing, engage in a collage project to evoke happy thoughts/memories when verbal skills decline and look the person in the eye and SMILE.