Thursdays are quickly becoming my favorite days at the hospital. School of Rock is loads of fun for all involved, and everyone gets a spotlight position at least once, whether it be on an instrument or singing.
Shirley was a lot less sedated today and decided she wanted to sing. One of the older staff members on guitar asked her if she knew "Bo Diddley" and began playing the melody. The drummer (an individual residing in the hospital) joined in amazingly. Shirley froze, shook her head, and laughed nervously. "Well, just go along with the music and make something up!" he said. A little hesitantly, she began rocking to the beat and looking around. To everybody's surprise, she suddenly started to improvise lyrics into the mic that were better than what some people could write in hours. She sang about suicide and overcoming those types of thoughts, about having support even when it doesn't feel that way, and more. Her style was a fusion of jazz-punk and she didn't stumble once.
When she was done, the guitar blared out into a solo, leading into the final, diminishing portion of the song. The drummer, who has at least twenty years of experience with a drum set, ended with a spectacular finale. We all broke out in an applause, and I gave Shirley a high-five and a, "Did you really just come up with that on the spot?!" She nodded and asked if it was any good. "Are you kidding me?" I responded. "I couldn't do that if you gave me an hour to prepare!" Shirley was surprised by all the attention she was receiving in the room and went back to her seat behind the keyboard, elated.
This is generally an experience everyone gets to have at some point, and I absolutely love it.
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