One of the many wonderful things about being a musician is having the opportunity to share my passion with other people. Sometimes those people are children, students, adults with disabilities, senior citizens...really anyone who could use a little music to bring a smile their face and some inspiration to their life. My job as a musician is to bring something beautiful to their day.

My music department at school often takes trips to a veterans' home close by to share music with the wonderful people who fought for our freedom. In the spring of my first year, a small group of us went to perform there and were given a small spiel on what to expect upon arrival.

Many of the residents at Oxford have limited mobility and cognitive function. Some are receiving end of life care, while others are simply living out the rest of their retirement. Nursing homes have always given me an eerie feeling. Since my first visit with my great grandmother after she had moved to one, to caroling during the holidays, I've always ended these visits with a heavy heart and watering eyes. I tend to be overly emotional about life in general, and this is absolutely no exception.

After performing with my group, my professor introduced me to a kind man named Ralph. He sat very still in his wheel chair, but his eyes were alert and his smile was bright and full of life. He took my hand and told me I was beautiful. My professor went on to tell me that Ralph had recently begun doing art in his spare time. He had never touched a paint brush in his life, and decided to try something new when he moved to Oxford. I was incredibly impressed by his creative nature, and although he looked to be in his early nineties, he clearly had the heart of a child.

After talking for a bit about life and school, he looked me in the eyes and began reciting a poem. It was one of the most heartwarming poems I had ever heard, and I vowed that as soon as we got back to campus, I'd look it up. With tears streaming down my face, I held Ralph's hand and thanked him for being a wonderful person. I cried the entire way back to campus.

As soon as I sat down on my bed, I typed the first line of Ralph's poem into google.

"I do not wish you joy without a sorrow."

Nothing.

"Poems about joy and sorrow"

Nothing.

"I do not wish you poem"

Nothing.

I continued rephrasing, retyping, searching everywhere on the internet to find this poem, and I never found it. Distraught and upset that I couldn't remember the beautiful words Ralph had spoken to me only days earlier, I called the home asking if it would be possible to speak with Ralph over the phone. No one ever called me back, and I slowly came to terms with the fact that I would never find the poem.

Almost a year later, I returned to the same veterans home with a smaller group of musicians to perform. I began thinking of Ralph the minute I got in the car. I looked everywhere while I was performing for his familiar warm face, but he was nowhere to be found. After we finished performing, I quietly asked a nurse if Ralph was around. I explained to her that I desperately needed to see him to ask about a poem. She said that Ralph was very sick and wasn't seeing visitors at the moment, but thought he may make an exception for me.

We took the elevator to the 4th floor, passed his artwork in the hallway, and entered a dark room with an oxygen machine whirring in the background. Ralph laid in his bed looking so sickly. The light in his eyes had faded to a dull and blank stare; the corners of his mouth no longer turned upward with joy. I moved quietly to the side of his bed and touched his soft hand. He looked up and smiled at me. The nurse told him who I was, and asked him if he remembered the poem he had told me almost a year earlier. He sat up a little taller, I took out my phone to record our conversation, and he began reciting the poem.

"I do not wish you joy without a sorrow

Nor never ending day without the healing dark

Nor brilliant sun without a soothing shadow

Nor tides that never turn against your bark

I wish you peace and love, faith and courage, and goods and gold

Enough to help a needy one

And I wish you song, but also blessed silence

And gods sweet peace when day is done."

By the last line, I had soft tears running down my face, so thankful for his wonderful memory and kind heart. I kept recording as we talked. He looked me in the eyes and said, "Margaret, you know that's my wife's name, you are my angel. I prayed to God to give me a reason to live, to heal me, and he sent me you. I feel like I can keep going. I can keep living." He continued to talk and began quoting one of my favorite Robert Frost poems, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." I held his hand and recited it with him.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

And miles to go before I sleep."

We sat in silence for a small moment, and I hugged him. I squeezed his hand, and said goodbye. As soon as I returned to my room, I sat down and listened to the recording of our time together...only seven minutes long. I listened to the recording over and over trying to decipher the words from the poem that Ralph had quietly spoken. I typed out each word slowly and carefully until, to my astonishment, I had completed the poem.

I was overjoyed when I finished, and I ran to a friend to read him the words that had inspired me to tears. After hearing the first line, he typed them into Google. The first search result was the poem in its entirety.

My heart sunk, and it was in that moment that I realized just how linked and connected everything is. In that moment, I truly understood what it meant when people said "everything happens for a reason," whether you believe in a higher power or not.

This is one of the most powerful experiences I've had so far in my young life, and I still listen to the recording when I'm looking for inspiration and guidance on the tough days. I showed Ralph purpose in life that day, and Ralph showed me a new way to approach living. I look back on our exchange with a heart full of love and compassion.

Think about your life in a new way this week. Tell someone you care about them. Go out of your way to remember beautiful words. Find what inspires you and run with it. Be kind always. Until next time.