Agnes De Mille said, "To dance is to be out of yourself - larger, more beautiful, and more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking."
 
During a conversation about her life our patient informed her Hospice at Home nurse that she used to love to square dance.  Residing in a nursing home and now in a wheel chair it had now been quite some time since she had last danced.  Prompted by our patient's remarks our nurse contacted our Life is Precious Program - "Was there something we could do?"

At about the same time one of our Hospice at Home volunteers in the St. Joseph area informed our Volunteer Coordinator that she was part of a line dancing group and they would love to put on dance demonstrations, especially for shut-ins.  Asked if she knew of any square dancers she replied, "My dance instructor also square dances."  After a series of phone calls, many conversations, much coordination between all involved, and a few weeks time it was all set up.  On the appointed day eight square dancers, along with the caller and his wife, traveled more than sixty miles from their homes in the Bridgman to the facility in Fennville.

Here, in the words of one of the dancers, is what happened -
"Thought I'd let you know how Sunday went. We arrived at the Nursing Home and did part of our demo. Then we had some of the residents come out and join us, including the lady who wanted to square dance again. The caller went slowly, but she wasn't able to do much. I had my husband partner up with her and her son stood behind her for support. We did circle, dosado, left alemand and right and left grand. She didn't stay in the circle very long before they put her in a wheelchair. In talking with her, I found out that she had square danced a long time ago when they did "hoedown" so our way was different, but she said she liked it. We did a couple more "tips" before leaving. Those residents who were watching and dancing had a good time and enjoyed it."

The volunteer then thanked us for the opportunity to give back to others.

The next day, a Monday, when our nurse returned to the facility she was greeted by a facility staff member who called out to thank Hospice at Home for setting up the dance. She felt the residents really enjoyed the dancers and two of the male residents talked about when they used to call a dance. Our patient had nothing but good things to share.

It took many people to bring this all together and it touched so many lives!

"Dance, in its essence, is simply life on a higher level" ~ Curt Sachs