With more and more technology, we are seemingly flooded with news stories non-stop almost every day. Although it’s good to stay up to date with what is happening, we can start to become numb to the goings-on of the world if we don’t find a chance to unplug after a while. It becomes difficult to distinguish between what is truly important and what is merely station filler.
Although this affects consumers of news, it’s also a concern for the people who bring us the news.
Newscasters are charged with reporting to us every day on the happenings of the world.
Though most of the job is simply keeping a sheen of professionalism and trying to remain objective while telling us what’s going, there are some stories which have more power and personal connection than others. In particular, a broadcast out from WXIA-11 in Atlanta, Georgia highlighted one of these touching moments.
The story they broadcasted was a testament to the power of music.
The story took place at A.G Rhodes Health and Rehab Center, a nursing home in Wesley Woods, Georgia.
Resident Rosemary Bowers was set to turn 100 that year. As part of Bowers’ daily routine, the staff at the facility would come into her room and play her old music from her childhood as part of music therapy. The process was designed to bring light and joy to Bowers and the other elderly denizens of the clinic by helping them tap into their old memories. “Music is part of your soul,” Bowers says.
Still, it’s not just Bowers who gets to take advantage of the program.
In another part of the home, Linda sits with her mother while listening to music together.
Linda says that her mother suffers from dementia—but the music helps bring her back to the present. “She looks right at me, looks into my eyes and lets me know that she knows me,” Linda says. “That just makes it awesome.” Perhaps most powerful, though, is when everyone gets together for group music therapy. Led by one of the staff members with a guitar, everyone sings along and dances together to songs they knew from their youth.
When the music plays, the entire nursing home is young again.
When the story ends and the cameras cut back to one of the newscasters, he can’t contain his tears.
Before the segment ends, the newscaster explains that the entire story made him think of his own late father:
“Music was such a big part of his life and seeing the memories that these folks had literally struck a chord. It’s powerful stuff.”
Needless to say, music is a powerful force in our lives that keeps us young—no matter how old we are.
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