I want to share with all of you. The “Harmony For Lunch Bunch” has been having around 12 singers most weeks. We also have a group of 4 to 6 people that have been coming every week, for about 1 year now, from the east side of Lakewood just to hear us sing. Ken has been recovering from brain tumor surgery. We jokingly call them our “groupies”. About 3 weeks ago Ken fell and caused a major hemorrhage on his brain. He has been near a coma ever since. He sleeps most of the time and seldom speaks.
We have been to the hospital to sing to him twice. I would like to share today’s visit with all. When we got there, Ken was asleep and would not respond to anyone. We sang a few songs, tried to talk with him and encourage him to answer. He had a bad night last night and would not respond. We kept trying various songs to no avail. After singing his favorite (New Ashmolian) we started to get some response. Sang a couple more and asked him what he wanted. When asked if he wanted New Ashmolian again, He said, much to our surprise, “That would be nice. I always like that.”
This is another reason to sing. “The Senior Extempore”‘ quartet is not one of the chapters better quartets but any music can do wonders to help people get better if only for a little while. The nurses at Torrance Memorial said that a quartet would be welcome to visit and sing to any patients, any time.
Just remember, the world can get better if you continue with a song. As our theme song says, “Keep America Singing”
“The Senior Extempore”‘
OJ Rand (Bass)