Sometimes you meet people that just really impress and amaze you.
A few weeks ago, my mother was in her final stages of dementia at Eden Gardens, a home specifically for people with that disease in Nanaimo.
She was no longer able to walk and was confined to an almost horizontal wheelchair.
Mom was also no longer able to talk, and she slept much of the time.
My sister, Mary Jane, and I would visit her almost every day, as we had for almost two years since she was first admitted to Eden Gardens, and as the end closed in on my mother, we would just sit next to her and watch her sleep.
Every so often, the facility would announce that a volunteer singer and performer, Kyle Shepard, would host a show and my sister and I thought it would be a good idea to wheel mom to see the show so she could experience something different from her room and the area where she lived for a change.
So dozens of patients, staff and visitors gathered in the outdoor courtyard for the show and, as mom needed a lot of space in a long wheelchair/stretcher, we were placed right in front of the audience.
Then Kyle, who I figured was likely in his mid-30s, showed up with nothing more than a synthesizer that produces background music for his songs, along with his dad, Marty Shepard, who was carrying a trumpet that looked as old as he was.
I guessed he'd probably had it most of his life.
I wasn’t expecting much; we just wanted to get mom out of her room, but I was about to be pleasantly surprised.
Kyle turned out to be a great singer with a loud and powerful voice, and he regaled the crowd with music from their era, like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra songs, and Marty, who was obviously very experienced on his horn, backed him up in perfect style.
I had gotten used to the other patients at Eden Gardens over the years, and most of them were very quiet and slow-moving most of the time, and I was amazed at how they responded to Kyle as he moved among them singing and dancing away.
Kyle knew each of the patients and he would call to them by name as he passed by, holding their hands and singing directly to them.
They were clapping their hands and happily singing along with him, and it was pleasing to see how they acted like the young and able people they were at one time.
I was surprised when he stopped by mom and knew her name and, realizing that she was near her end, sang almost a full song directly to her.
My mom’s eyes were wide open, something I hadn’t seen in some time, and she was moving back and forth in her wheelchair to the rhythm of the song and even attempted to sing along with Kyle.
I was touched by Kyle’s concern for my mom, and I was astounded that such a young man spent so much time at Eden Gardens entertaining mostly elderly patients that he grew to know, and seemed to genuinely care for.
That was the last time I ever saw my mom truly respond to anything as she passed away shortly afterwards.
I received the dreaded call one morning as I was heading out the door to go to work.
That's when I was reminded about just how many other remarkable people there are at Eden Gardens.
I was the first member of my family to arrive that morning and was met at the door by one of the attendants who, with tears in her eyes, as she had known mom for some time, assured me that she was there holding mom's hand when she passed and she didn't die alone.
A few hours later, while people from the funeral home carried mom out to the hearse with all of us following along, dozens of staff members stood along the whole length of the hallway as a tribute to mom as Amazing Grace played over the PA system.
It was very emotional for all of us.
I want to thank the staff at Eden Gardens for all they did for mom over the more than two years she was there, and to Kyle Shepard for giving her one last bit of joy before she departed this world.
