Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Something happened recently at the library that reaffirmed my belief in the basic goodness of people and the belief that the organization I have chosen to spend a lot of my time and experience with is truly making a difference in the lives of others in a lot of small, but meaningful, ways.
That “something” was a visit by a woman in search of sheet music for songs that were popular in the 1930s through 1950s. She explained that she is a pianist who visits dementia and senior living homes in the surrounding community each week to play piano for them. She likes to sit with the residents and invite them to look through sheet music to remember favorite songs from their past. Songs that revive precious moments otherwise long forgotten by life.
And then, she plays for them. In a way, it conjures up scenes for me of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” in the 1999 movie “The Green Mile” while elderly residents of a senior living home find themselves awash in memories of their own past loves and dances.
I wasn’t at the library when she visited. But, fortunately, Stephanie Doody was. Stephanie is one of our most avid volunteers, and probably the only volunteer we have under the age of 50. She has two teenage boys, an active social life, volunteers elsewhere and is still in the library most days of the week.
Requests for sheet music are not an everyday occurrence for us. So, it would have been easy for Stephanie to simply say, “Gee, I don’t think so,” and let it go at that. But, for someone with service running through her veins, that would never do.
“I asked her to wait and went on a quest in our basement, gathering song books and sheet music that we had on hand,” Stephanie recalled. “I think she was a little surprised when I returned with so much and asked her to go through everything to see if any of it looked suitable to her purpose.”
As it turned out, our unnamed pianist was thrilled with how much of the music was perfect and would almost certainly delight her listeners. So, she collected it all up and asked how much she owed for it, to which Stephanie replied, “Nothing. Consider it a donation. And, thanks for caring enough about others to volunteer your time and talents to bring joy into their lives through your music. We are just so happy to help you, in a small way.”
For some reason, I love this simple story. A woman dedicated to giving, serendipitously running into another woman dedicated to serving, and both of them making the world a little bit better in the process. I guess purpose really is often found in unexpected places.
--Joe David
Copyright © 2019 Friends of Cascade Library - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder