Dancing to God’s Tune

Lillian, known as G.G. to our family, had just celebrated her 92nd birthday. Her cognitive abilities and motor skills
had been steadily declining since her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Vestiges of her youthful beauty remained, but she was no longer able to walk or speak.

Since childhood, G.G.’s passion had been dancing. She loved all the dance steps of her bygone era, but her dancing days were over after the advancing assault on her memory.

True to our routine, after helping her with breakfast and prayer, I bathed and dressed G.G. for the day. As I transferred her frail body from bed to wheelchair, her hands were in mine. I gently swung her arms back and forth and began singing to her. “Let me call you sweetheart, I’m in love with you,” I sang.

As we swung our arms in time to the rhythm of the song, her wheelchair began to move. She looked up at me with an expression that took my breath away. Her eyes were sparkling and her face was radiant. She was once again “dancing.” We danced for a while that morning, and for many mornings after. I named this our “four-wheeled waltz.”