Editor’s Letter – 3/21/18

My grandmother Helen had dementia for the last eight years of her life. When she moved in with my family, we understood that her condition would worsen, and only time would tell how. Eventually she could no longer stay at home alone while my parents worked, so my mother found an adult daycare where Nana could spend the bulk of her weekdays. There, they made bracelets and bookmarks and did light exercise. She made friends and for the most part seemed to enjoy it, but dementia provides amply for mood swings, and it was never possible to know how Nana would be when we picked her up at the end of the day.

Once, when I was 25, my mother asked me to pick up Nana. It was summer in Oklahoma City and hot. I was late getting out of work, late getting to the daycare. When I walked inside, Nana was sitting alone at a table, rocking in her chair, rubbing the tops of her legs. She was the last one left for the day, and this made her anxious. We got into my Chevy Blazer, which had torn leather seats and no air conditioning, so you’d simultaneously sweat and stick to the slick leather and seat stuffing. The windows were down, but the heat was oppressive and seemed to exacerbate the situation. Nana continued to fidget with her hands, repeating, “Where are we going? Where are we going?”

I didn’t know what to do. I put on Bob Marley. Less than halfway into “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” I looked over at her. Nana’s right hand was out the window, making small waves up and down, keeping the syncopated rhythm of the song. Her left hand was resting on her lap. She was relaxed.

On our cover, we’ve partially quoted Hans Christian Andersen’s line: “Where words fail, music speaks.” Much of the music we listen to is accompanied by words, of course, but often those words don’t carry the same weight they hold with the music. Music elevates them—and it elevates us. I never believed in its power as much as I did after seeing the near-immediate effect it had on my grandmother that hot summer day.

This issue marks a sort-of “round two” for a music-heavy read this month. Though we chose to celebrate March as a music month, rather than observing March Madness, we do include some sports: a preview of the Roughnecks’ season. Also, Zack Reeves interviewed Micah Fitzerman-Blue on his upcoming Mister Rogers film, Andrew Deacon interviewed comedian Bill Burr ahead of his Brady Theater show, Damion Shade wrote about the proposed teacher walkout on April 2, and we have a new addition to the paper—the cartoons of Clay Jones.

Happy reading—and listening!