It's tough being a resident in a nursing home.  Especially in one that specializes in memory care.  Faces are seldom familiar to you, the question on your lips is "where am I?"  But there's one thing that always seems familiar and takes you back in time to a memory you thought you'd long forgotten, and that's hearing the songs you love.

Today residents at Elderberry Square sang along to MY GUY and BILL BAILY (always a favorite) and clapped and moved to ONLY YOU and IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT, and one woman in the back shed many tears as I sang JUST THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT.

I never know which songs will bring back memories, or whether they'll be sad or happy ones, but because I focus on songs from the 1930s to the 1950s there seems to be something there for everyone.

When I departed, Evelyn reached up from her wheelchair, tapped my leg and very quietly shared, "When I was a young child, I used to sing A TISKET, A TASKET as I skipped down to the water hole to go swimming with my brothers.  It is a favorite of mine. Thank you."

THIS is why I sing for seniors, to bring them a bit of comfort, a little ray of sunshine, and to take a walk with them down memory lane.