Lessons Learned at a Nursing Home

• The first man we went to visit this past Sunday's name was Del. He was pretty talkative and liked telling us stories about his mission. After we sang him a few Christmas hymns, he pointed a trembling finger at me and said, "You remind me of my mother. She was a tiny lady." Then, as I shook his hand and said goodbye, he held onto it and said, "If I call you Mama, don't be alarmed." HA!
• Next we visited a woman named Helen who was thoroughly engrossed in an NFL game when we entered her room. She muted it and immediately started asking us each where we were from and what our names were. She knew where everyone's hometown was except for me... figures. Then we asked her which song she wanted us to sing and she said, "Oh, any song, any song! I have two loves in life: milk and music." (Courtney prodded me in the back when she said that and mouthed, "That's you!") Then she warned us not to sing "Silent Night" because every time she hears that one she cries. Let me just say that I got more laughs from this woman in fifteen minutes than I can get out of a whole day with...ahem...myself.
  
• Last we visited a woman whose husband was visiting her. She was in a hospital bed and he was standing very close by, watching over her. A girl in our group told him that he had a very beautiful wife, to which he replied with a smile, "Oh, I know that." Then his wife said, "She doesn't feel very beautiful right now," so he reached over and grabbed her hand. We sang "Joy to the World" to them, which we were told "would make the wife happy." I just love old couples...they really are golden!