Piano Playing

I almost find it aggravating how many touching moments I have had this summer because then I want to write them down so that I do not forget.

My patients speak such wise words... I find it both a blessing and tragedy that people often learn the most important truths about life when they are faced with death. For example, when a patient with only months left tells you: "I expect to hear you play a song on the piano this time next year", you know it is time to start dabbling on those keys.

Today I had a patient who began showing signs of ALS (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Amyotrophic+lateral+sclerosis) in April, and lays in her bed almost completely paralyzed today. I didn't talk to this woman very much, but the few conversations we had left my heart aching. She had no appetite, no mobility, a tube feeding into her stomach, immense pain, and a horrible prognosis. And she was only in her 50's. She has 5 children and 7 grandchildren, and the chances of her seeing another birth or wedding are slim. How do you cope with something like this? How do go from a full functioning life to having a doctor tell you that within months you will soon be unable to speak? Before I knew much about this woman, I felt compelled to pray for her. I didn't want to seem like a weirdo, so I did it silently as I set up her bedside table. I asked about her life a little bit, and she told me how her husband and herself used to travel as gospel singers. She said she was trained in piano and was about to start learning violin, but that the onset of ALS had kept her from picking it up. She told me, "see, you shouldn't wait to start doing the things you want to do, you never know when it could be too late." I told her that I had always wanted to learn to play the piano and she smiled saying, "well I bet I will be back here in a year, so when I do, I am going to expect that you have started to play." I nodded, half wondering if she really would be back, half wondering if I would ever actually try to fumble my way through a tune. I told her that my grandfather used to play piano, but that he had recently stopped. The woman told me to tell him to keep playing, and reminded me that one could never be too old to learn. I decided to go out on a whim and asked her if I could pray. What could it hurt? She graciously told me yes and opened up her hand for me to grab. After my short words, she thanked me, and quoted Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength", emphasizing that He said EVERYTHING. She told me to continue to be strong and courageous in my offering of prayers, and to keep letting God use me like that. She shared that her husband was a docile man, but that he was a prayer warrior, always being asked to pray for people. (I met him later that evening and he was indeed a sweet man, rubbing his wife's sore feet. He had love written in his eyes. He was black and she was white.)

I don't want to wait until death to begin living. Why spend our entire lives working for a goal that may never be reached? Why not live our lives responding as the blessed children we are, open to receive from our Father.