This afternoon I did an abreviated version of my "Hello Bubbela" show for a group of Seniors in Portland. They enjoyed it, laughing and "oohing" in the appropriate places, when something unexpected happened. One of the activity directors commented in the middle of the piece (when I was imitating my Grandma and talking about music) that one of the residents played the piano. So I stopped what I was doing and invited her to play. She marched right over to the piano and played some beautiful music while I danced around the room with my microphone pausing to giggle at the moment and it's unexpected surprise.
It didn't bother me that I didn't command the stage, instead I relished in the fact that the program was so joyous to the group that they wanted to be part of the show. Of course that could be my positive thinking kicking in again. Regardless, the whole scene was heartwarming to say the least.
At the end of the program I talked about "Good hearted living" from a World Laughter Tour perspective.
Each day of the week we work on one way to be more joyous in our lives. Weekends are for chocolate I told them. One of the residents shouted that she loved Dark chocolate and I yelled back and said: Me too! Then she added :With Marzipan filling! I told her that was my favorite and that my Aunt Else used to send it to us from Germany every year. The resident nodded and smiled knowingly at me.
After the program I went up to sit with her and chat about Marzipan. What I learned left me speechless.
She had been snet with her entire family into a concentration camp even though she was not Jewish. She was there from the time she was 1-5. Her father was killed one month before she was born. The Swedes rescued them. She kept some of her friends all these years later. We held hands and sighed as she told me all the yiddish words she learned over the years. Then we spoke more about the marzipan and how it still made her smile.
May chocolate help us share our stories with each other and remind us of how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy life's simple pleasures.
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