“For the Beauty of the Earth” was the Rhythmic Thanksgiving Feast theme that engaged, empowered and energized the wonderful active older adults living with dementia. Our session began with a deep breathing wellness exercise to a beautiful “Thanksgiving” Windham Hill recording.
Then we residents moved, grooved, and tapped rhythm sticks to a modified lyrics of “Old Time Religion” incorporating their names and how they feel. Then we tapped and sang the original song lyrics and discussed “the good old days” and “Thanksgiving traditions.” Responses included: “being blessed to be alive and here today with such wonderful people, Thank God everyone day for another day on the earth, I love seeing my family together, baking/cooking a huge Thanksgiving Feast and eating all of the Thanksgiving fixings.”
Each senior stated their favorite food item and the group tapped it with the rhythm sticks … the more descriptive and creative the better. One of the longest responses was: “hot, golden brown, buttered, yummy rolls just out of the oven.”
Then we sang the song “For the Beauty of the Earth” and discussed all of the beautiful things God has made for us on Earth. The senior champions decided they wanted the volunteers to make the rhythm sticks into a cross; which they did a fabulous job! Then we sang several songs including “At the Cross and The Old Rugged Cross” while reflecting on God’s sacrifice for us and his greatness and glory for us.
Then the senior champions played several songs on the beautiful tone chimes including “Amazing Grace” and “For the Beauty of the Earth.” We closed by singing these songs and invited each resident to share how she felt from the music session. Reflective comments included: “so blessed to be here today, Becky we love your music to enrich our lives, this so so wonderful, loved it all and Thank you!”
