I want to share a quick and funny story…My 82 year old father got a new pair of Bison leather slip on shoes made by Duluth Trading. They are lightweight and have better traction for him while doing his exercises. (He had a stroke a few years ago that did damage to his right side and brain.) On one of the days I was helping him do his walking exercise he began to, what I thought, was mumble so I asked him to repeat what he was saying. He looks up at me and states “I am singing about buffalo gals”, to which I entertained and chalked up as possible confused thoughts that flow through his mind since the stroke. Singing the song with only certain words able to be understood as he sat in his chair resting, I found myself humming the catchy tune on my ride home.

To humor myself and to verify just how many marbles he has lost, I google the Buffalo Gals and a few of the words he kicked out while tapping his one good foot. Low and behold Buffalo Gals  popped right up with many different groups singing this once cowboy campfire song from the 1800’s. Looks like I am the one with less marbles and egg on my face. The next day I surprised my dad by playing the song for him on my smartphone. I wish I could have captured his expression of sheer glee and happiness on his crocked face. As if there was no memory loss or brain damage from the stroke, he sang the entire 2 minutes and 44 seconds of this song without missing a beat or mixing up the words. I was dumbfounded and moved so deeply to see the light in his eyes shine and be 100% in the moment living from a memory so long ago. When the song finished he looked at me and winked as he said “Who’s the crazy one now”.

The brain is most powerful when linked to the heart. I am now on a mission to find all his favorite songs from the yesteryear’s.