The session right before Valentine’s Day was centered around love: the good, the bad and the ugly.
About 15 older adults listened and sang along as Caitlyn Bodine played and sang “Lollipop,” “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart" at the Oshtemo Branch Library.
The library holdsa monthly music therapy event. Its purpose is to help participants call up certain memories and foster a community. Bodine said the program started as a way for people to come together and lift their spirits.
“Music is a really powerful way to do that,” Bodine said. (WMUK's Cara Lieurance interviewed Bodine in 2022, early in her partnership with the library.)
Between songs, Bodine asked participants where they went on dates when they were 16, and what advice they would give to newlyweds. While many date activities have not changed much in decades, one participant noted the prices have.
Bodine said several of her regular attendees have dementia, but she sees them engaging with the music.
“Maybe they they’re not really able to have a conversation with their child, their grown adult child, but I’m looking at them as we’re singing, and they’re singing along,” Bodine said.
Bodine brought a tambourine, wooden spoons and maracas for participants to use and join in on the music.
Some also danced a waltz, which Bodine says is common at these sessions.
Bodine and the library asked WMUK not to interview participants to keep their identities private. But Branch Manager Andrea Vernola said she enjoys seeing relationships form among those who return each month.
“They are starting to know each other and they look forward to seeing each other,” Vernola said.