Goodbye (for now) and Thank You

This is the Mom-ager of the MK Band here! Long post alert! Today's post is written by me and from my perspective of having watched these kiddos of mine close a very big chapter in their lives today. In 2020, in the height of the pandemic, it came to our attention that places like Assisted Living facilities, and other senior services were suffering from lack of entertainment and socialization opportunities. Outside visitors weren't allowed in, and that meant that neither were entertainers and singers. We knew first hand what this meant as my father (the kids' grandfather) was an attendee at a wonderful government funded Day Program in Ontario, Canada for seniors with memory issues. We were grateful that he had this incredible place to go to, where he enjoyed socializing, playing games and being entertained by visiting artists. When the pandemic hit and the Day Programs were temporarily shut down, we knew that Assisted Living Facilities must also be affected. We reached out to the coordinator of the Day Programs, who was also connected to an assisted living facility in Ontario, and the kids offered to sing for the folks in this facility via Zoom. That's how this all started! They'd sing for about 30 minutes and would learn songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's, as these appealed most to the residents. The idea took off and it was enjoyable for both the residents and for the kids. Eventually the Day Program opened back up and both locations were in full swing, including the location the kids' grandfather attended. We started with regular shows each week via Zoom for both locations. The time difference was a bit tough as they were in Ontario, Canada, and we're here in California. Between the Day Program hours and the kids' school timings, we decided that 10am Ontario time, which was 7am our time would work best. It's now more than 5 years later, and the kids have performed 473'ish shows for the Day Program locations! Two shows every week, unless we were traveling or some other issue came up. Sprinkled in there were another 32 in-person shows for local Assisted Living facilities. The band went through some changes too as our oldest left for college. We had 2 members left, but the boys made it work! I have watched them grow not only physically (they used to be shorter than me, and now tower over me!), but musically too. They've also developed a very soft spot for senior citizens, and especially those with memory issues like Dementia and Alzheimers. I watched them listen to 'oldies' and ask my husband and I for advice on song selection. I watched them learn the parts on their guitars and then sort our the vocals. It's filled my heart to watch them prepare for the shows. They'll tell you that my favorite thing in the world is to just listen to them all sing. They've been blessed with perfect pitch and the ability to harmonize instantly. They've spent the last 5 years singing for folks and hopefully bringing them lots of happiness and joy. If all of the dancing, clapping, tapping and singing along we've seen from the seniors over the 5 years is any indication, It would appear they have brought lots of joy to their lives! There'll be a hole left in our day-to-day lives, especially for my husband and me as we'll be empty nesters in a week. The boys are also headed to college, hence the need to bring the shows to a close. We'll be back though! As we've told our amazing Day Program coordinators, this is not goodbye, but more of a 'see you soon'! We plan to schedule shows during winter break and any other school breaks and holidays that we can. Music is ingrained in the kids' souls. It's important to them to keep music in their life, keep working at it and keep performing for others. It's their happy place! For now, here are two small clips from today's show. They are clips from Turn, Turn, Turn, and Have You Ever Seen The Rain. I chose to include these two today because the lyrics are so special and so timely. 'To everything there is a season', and 'have you ever seen the rain coming down on a sunny day'. The season for our shows has come to and end, as a new chapter of education begins for the kids, and although we're basking in the beautiful Southern California sunshine today, there's a rain of sadness that this chapter has come to an end. Thank you to all who have read these posts over the years, and we will be back here and there!

Here is the full setlist from the show:

1. Blueberry Hill

2. Donna

3. Sweet Caroline

4. Top Of The World

5. La Bamba

6. Turn Turn Turn

7. Here Comes The Sun

8. Have You Ever Seen The Rain

9. All I Have To Do Is Dream

10. Don't Fence Me In

11. Daisy Bell

#communityinvolvement #seniorcitizens #theloveofmusic #memorycare #Cambridge #showtunes #seniorliving #memorycare #musictherapy #dementia #alzheimers #goldenoldies