Sharing Personal Experiences
about Disability and Homecare

I was located in a hospital room visiting my uncle who had just been diagnosed with a pernicious form of cancer when, suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a harp followed quickly by what I presumed was the harpist. They whisked across my path of vision in a blur and then disappeared somewhere down the corridor. The first thought that came to mind was that I was hallucinating. The second thought was that I had made it to heaven and hadn't even realized I had died.

It turned out I was wrong on both counts.

My cousin, who was spending her daily vigil with her father (my uncle) explained that volunteers at the hospital play the harp for patients with terminal diseases. The quality of harp music is soothing and even pain-relieving in some instances. She told me that when they offered to play the harp for her father she declined, because he was so hard of hearing she didn't think he would benefit from the music. They assured her that even if he couldn't hear, the vibrations of the harp are quite unique and even penetrate the body to perform their magical musical therapy.