We all get discouraged. It is easy to ask if we are doing any good in this world. Is the light we are giving off providing anyone with warmth, joy or solace? A few nights ago I went to a concert by Tami Briggs. She is a talented harpist living in Minnesota and is licensed to provide hospitals, nursing homes and hospices with musical therapy.
Her decision to do so took courage. In the past, whenever she went into a hospital she fainted straight away. Luckily her first hospital gig was in an emergency room -- and she was reassured by the staff that if she was going to faint, that was the best place to do it.
Tami told amazing stories of the connections she has made over the years. They were all beautiful but one hit me more than any other. It was about a stocking. She held it up. It didn’t appear to be much, in fact when Tami got it, lost in a host of other gifts, she thought nothing of it: a plain Christmas stocking with lace around the top.
The next day she was going through her gifts and noticed a piece of paper in it. It was from the mother of a woman who had received a heart/lung transplant. Tami visited the woman three times in the hospital and played for her. Sadly, infection set it and the woman lost her fight.
The stocking that Tami had received was made from the woman’s favorite robe. It was a robe that reminded her mother of better times -- the laughter and warmth her daughter had given the world. The mother carefully cut it up and made stockings for those her daughter loved the most. It was a way of making sure that the daughter’s spirit continued to glow.
The night Tami opened the present, she hadn’t really received it (she was tired and not in the moment) but that morning she got it. Everyone who heard Tami in that auditorium got the gift too. I did. I cried. A Christmas stocking now reminds me what music means to people in the worst moments of their life -- and of that woman. Stockings are now full of loss, stars and rebirth. It reminds me of the amazing connections we can make everyday.
Tami Briggs
http://www.musicalreflections.com/
Her decision to do so took courage. In the past, whenever she went into a hospital she fainted straight away. Luckily her first hospital gig was in an emergency room -- and she was reassured by the staff that if she was going to faint, that was the best place to do it.
Tami told amazing stories of the connections she has made over the years. They were all beautiful but one hit me more than any other. It was about a stocking. She held it up. It didn’t appear to be much, in fact when Tami got it, lost in a host of other gifts, she thought nothing of it: a plain Christmas stocking with lace around the top.
The next day she was going through her gifts and noticed a piece of paper in it. It was from the mother of a woman who had received a heart/lung transplant. Tami visited the woman three times in the hospital and played for her. Sadly, infection set it and the woman lost her fight.
The stocking that Tami had received was made from the woman’s favorite robe. It was a robe that reminded her mother of better times -- the laughter and warmth her daughter had given the world. The mother carefully cut it up and made stockings for those her daughter loved the most. It was a way of making sure that the daughter’s spirit continued to glow.
The night Tami opened the present, she hadn’t really received it (she was tired and not in the moment) but that morning she got it. Everyone who heard Tami in that auditorium got the gift too. I did. I cried. A Christmas stocking now reminds me what music means to people in the worst moments of their life -- and of that woman. Stockings are now full of loss, stars and rebirth. It reminds me of the amazing connections we can make everyday.
Tami Briggs
http://www.musicalreflections.com/
Funny how people meet...met you my friend by following a star! Never knew that I would be so intrigued and drawn to the light!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tami. I met Diva by joking how her coffee pot looked like a battle damaged droid!
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