Eden - the Harpist

 Eden has been so busy this month with multiple jobs playing her harp at the retirement homes and assisted living centers.   Some days she does two shows back to back and has some sore and blistered fingers! She has been loving it so much though, and is learning to really have heartfelt connections with the residents who come to her shows. It has been so incredible for me to watch her grow and become more confident with each show she does, and for her heart to be touched by the lives of these older people. This has been an amazing opportunity for her, for so many reasons.

She starts her shows by telling them a little about herself, then she tells them about different songs she will play, and asks questions throughout, answers their questions, and makes jokes depending on the energy of the crowd.  The more shows she does, the more natural she is getting at speaking with them, and it's been awesome to watch her transforming so quickly.

Sometimes really funny things happen at these shows, and she is getting so great at just adapting and going with it, and then we laugh about it later.  At this particular show, she told them she also played the piano and wanted to surprise them with a piano piece.  It wasn't until she started playing that we heard how horribly untuned the piano was.  She was cringing and kept looking at me with the funniest expressions, but she was committed and just kept playing!   Obviously, if that's the piano there, that's all those residents get to hear, so I'm sure they thought it was beautiful.   Now she always tests the piano first before she decided to throw in any surprise piano numbers.

Sometimes she gets to see the posters and advertisements about her shows hanging on the walls as we are coming in.  She says it makes her feel really official.

Some shows have a lot of residents, and they are lively and ask questions and sing along and the energy is really fun.  Sometimes they even get after each other, and bicker a little while she is going and it is so funny.  She just rolls with it and we laugh about it together after - they are so fun.

Some shows are really small and will only get a few residents.  We can tell which facilities are more for end of life care, as those folks are very quiet and weak, but I'm sure it is a beautiful experience for them to enjoy her music.

Eden even had one show where they weren't able to get any residents out of their rooms.  She  had set up in the living area, with their rooms surrounding, but it was time to get started and nobody was coming.  Some doors were closed, and some were open, but it felt so weird to her to be there playing when it seemed nobody was listening.  She was a bit discouraged, but I told her to just continue playing, and if nothing else, she was getting paid to be there practicing.  She played her final song and was prepared to pack up when we heard a quiet voice from around the corner singing the words to the song she had just played.  She she moved her harp closer to the doorway of that voice and played through that song again.  She was so grateful to know that even though nobody came out, she had made a difference for at least one person that day.  It was very sweet.

Overall, it has been so incredible.  I sit back and watch her and just marvel at the person she is.  So many new doors are opening up to her, and its so much credit to her for her hard work, her diligence, her willingness to fight and not give up, and her willingness to be vulnerable.  She is an amazing human.