While cleaning up my computer, I came across something that I wrote back in June of 2016.
Last night, I performed at Wesley Acres Retirement Home. The weather was beautiful and performing under those large oak trees made it even more enjoyable. There’s this idea that growing old is a bad thing but last night proved, once again, that we’re all the same inside. Seeing the audience react last night is no different than what I see when children or young adults enjoy music. There was a man in the audience last night that was dancing in his seat the entire night with a big smile on his face. He and his wife spoke to me afterwards. It turns out that she lived in Cincinnati for a while. We really connected when she told me her favorite part of living in Cincinnati was listening to Oscar Treadwell’s Saturday evening jazz program on WGUC. For her, that was the night her daughters knew that it was “mommy’s time to relax and listen to jazz.” For me, listening to Oscar Treadwell was my jazz education. She enthusiastically turned to her husband and yelled: “He knows who Oscar Treadwell is!”
Talk to everyone you meet. We all have a story to share and we may even have a shared experience.