As I implied in my previous post, at first, music was just a form of entertainment for us, but within the first year, it became therapeutic as well. Kate had a panic attack when I rushed her while we were getting ready for a symphony concert. I tried to calm her, but she was still uneasy when we left home.
After we got in the car, I put on a CD of the Brahms Violin Concerto. I advanced it to the Second Movement which is very soothing and lasts about ten minutes. Before we arrived at the concert, she was just fine. Since then, we have had a number of other occasions like this.
One of those occurred after she woke up from an afternoon nap. She was disturbed about something. As I had done before, I tried to calm her, but that didn’t work. Then I started singing a children’s song, and she joined me. That encouraged me to take my phone out of my pocket and search for children’s songs. I downloaded an album with one hundred of them. We sang for another thirty minutes which left us with a happy ending.
Music has been a very helpful tool in my “Caregivers Toolbox”. Once in a while, she still has similar episodes, usually during the night. I have found that “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music works well. I start out by humming or singing. Then I pick up my phone and play it on my audio system.
There are also times when she just seems to need a boost. Sometimes I use the album of children’s songs mentioned above. Another one I depend on is an album by the Susquehanna Chorale, a choral group we heard one summer at Chautauqua. It has a number of songs that we both enjoy, “Shenandoah”, “Danny Boy”, “Loch Lomond”, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”, and “Deep River”. We carry music wherever we go. One never knows when it might be needed.
