Chamber Choir is working on a piece of music called Alzheimer's Stories. It's about the disease. The piece is divided into 3 movements: The Numbers, The Stories, The Caregivers. It's an extremely moving piece of music. The lyrics, the music, the emotion....
I finally figured out tonight why I cry my way through most of the music - which is really not good! Music is a part of my soul. I think without music a part of me would die. I am constantly singing either in my head, out loud, or in my heart. It is a very emotional part of me. Now add to that words....words like "I've lost myself" ""Time forgotten, time remembered""Keep faith. They sense what they cannot show" "Love and music are the last things to go" "Love and compassion repair every loss."
It sends me right to the very raw emotions of Ethan's last days....his entire journey. No...it wasn't Alzheimer's. It was the loss of a life I had planned from day I found out I was pregnant. There's the plan and there's what really happens....we have learned that lesson.
My heart aches for those - 1 in 85 people worldwide - who are living with Alzheimer's....and the spouses, the children, the siblings, friends, the list can go on and on....
For me....whenever I sing this piece....I am taken right back to Ethan..the day he was diagnosed....the 5 1/2 year journey....the end....he sensed what he couldn't show....when he did only have love and music.....such a powerful piece....such an emotional ride for me.
I can only begin to understand how the people in our choir and Grand Rapids Women's Chorus (they are joining us for this concert) that are directly affected by Alzheimer's their emotional ride.
