SONGS AND STROKES

SONGS AND STROKES
Earlier, I described the profound help that was given to me when I moved to New York City and was given the opportunity to practice on the piano of Joyce Gibson who lived on 112th ??? and Riverside Drive. I have undying love for that dear woman who made that available to me. It made the difference of success and failure in those early years. With that introduction you can understand my deep dismay when I heard that Joyce had suffered a massive stroke during the Thanksgiving holiday season and was hospitalized in New York’s ???? hospital. Her neighbor Peggy stayed at her side and tried to communicate with her to no avail. Miraculously during that holiday season a group of carolers came through the halls of the hospital and Peggy noticed Joyce’s interest in what they were doing. She invited them into Joyce’s room and saw clearly her delight in their being there. She even noticed Joyce trying to mouth some of the words. During the ensuing weeks Peggy sang the carols with Joyce and even caused Joyce to join in. Little by little Joyce was able to sing the carols, even when she was not able to talk at first. How is that possible? A stroke is a neurological dysfunction which simply put “messes up the circuitry” in the brain. The order that had existed there is scrambled and the brain function shuts down to varying degrees. Music has so much order as we learned with our discussion of Clive as to superimpose order on an “orderless” or at least “disordered” brain. Often times the order of the music can “re-pattern” or “re-circuit” the brain into effective function. In Joyce’s case, it worked and she regained a good quality of life. What if the music had not been present at that juncture?