For the past 10 years plus I have been performing at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY. It has been the most gratifying and life changing experience of my life.
I am going to try to highlight some of those experiences in my blog every week from now on to hopefully encourage others to get involved. I will try to include pictures whenever I can.. but as you can understand and respect… privacy is of utmost consideration for all . So we will have to, in many cases, reverse the phrase and make “a hundred words equal one big picture”. I hope you can visualize each week the smiles and joy of the children and their parents that I am so fortunate to share my music with.
Today I got to spend time with Lilly and Timothy and Paige and Phillip.
Each child has their own story of how they arrived here and what it will take to walk out the front door. But one thing is clear…they all Hold the magic that is the essence of being a child and their courage and perseverance is clear in all of their eyes. Whether through The chicken sounds of old MacDonald or the sheep “singing” La Bamba…. for 30 minutes we can all become kids again. Today My buddy Lilly, who I have seen more times than I would have wished, brightened my day as she always does with her “cock a doodle do”. And Timothy at 6 with his cool pjs and smile that lit up the room looked a lot like me when I was his age with his hair flipped up and big brown eyes singing every song as if he was Pavarotti.. Even if he didn’t know the words!. And Phillip who played the trumpet so well that he was moved up to play in his school band at 11 was a natural ham that would surely go on to do what I do someday if the good lord is kind. And his cousin Paige just lit up the room with her fish lips and Skidsmarinking…All for this brief moment in time somehow magically disconnected from their monitors and IVs to simply be a kid again singing songs,enjoying each other’s company and smiling…. And their parents collectively exhaling to enjoy the sights and sounds of what life was and hopefully will be again. We all made lasting friendships and at the end of my show.. as I always say “I hope I don’t see you next week… (Because that would mean you were able to go home). I encouraged all to keep up the singing and smiling as much as they can in their everyday life’s ( and gave everyone a cd and dvd of my songs to help in the process)
Another great end to my week and hopefully to theirs…. Until next week.. Keep smilin!!