“Mom couldn’t remember to chew her food. So, I, childless non-cooking woman that I am, undertook to become my mom’s provider of food and nurturance. I feed her twice a day with pureed food.”

“Hardest for me to watch is the increasing silence. For the man who always had an opinion about everything and expressed it readily, it is hard to see him enter a world where he now generally has nothing to say.”

These are just two excerpts from the many stories that the Susquehanna Valley Chorale has collected over the past six months — each story coming from a local person who has had first-hand experience with Alzheimer’s disease. You may be asking why this is the topic of my newest blog entry. Well, primarily because this is a topic that is near-and-dear to my heart (my grandfather had Alzheimer’s for a decade) but also because something really unique has happened to these first-hand stories…They’ve been collected and masterfully woven together into a commissioned piece of choral work, called Alzheimer’s Stories (composed by Robert S. Cohen and written by Herschel Garfein).

The result is a stunning, 30-minute, three-movement choral work, with chamber orchestra accompaniment. The new work will premiere at 8 pm on Friday, October 9 in Bucknell University’s Weis Center for the Performing Arts in Lewisburg under the direction of Dr. William Payn. The concert is called “Monument to Memory” and tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students and are available by calling 570-523-1041 or through SVC’s website.

If Choral music isn’t quite your thing, consider attending a unique art quilt exhibit. October 2-4, the Chorale will host a beautiful and moving art quilt exhibit called “Alzheimer’s: Forgetting Piece by Piece” at Riverwoods in Lewisburg. Here, members of the community will be able to view 52 extraordinary art quilts about Alzheimer’s disease, and read the poignant story of each quilt and a fact about the disease. The exhibit hours are: Friday, October 2 from 10am-4pm, Saturday, October 3 from 10am-6pm and Sunday, October 4 from 12-6pm.

For more information about these efforts, including ordering tickets for the “Monument to Memory” concert, please contact the Susquehanna Valley Chorale at 570-523-1041 or go to SVCMusic.org.

Consider taking a very special loved one with you to this special concert performance and art quilt exhibit – I am sure you will be moved and inspired.