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"The ladies were white-haired and beautiful, wearing colorful socks and bright lipstick with fingernail polish to match. They lived together in a board-and-care home in California. Had this been another time in their lives, they might have been meeting to play mah-jongg or bridge. The clock struck early and unfairly for these women. Some had Alzheimer&amp;#039;s disease, some had suffered strokes.  There was fortune in their misfortune, though. Once a month they got a visit from the Music lady, a troubadour on a mission. She traveled from board\u2013and\u2013care home to board\u2013and\u2013care home, arousing memories and brightening lives. &amp;quot;Happy days are here again,&amp;quot; she sang, strumming her guitar and smiling. &amp;quot;Baby face,&amp;quot; the Music Lady sang. &amp;quot; You&amp;#039;ve got the cutest little baby face.&amp;quot; Cheery music filled the residence. It was if the ceiling opened up and the sun toppled into the room. The ladies, who could not remember anything else, remembered the songs that the Music lady sang them. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t know why I love you like I do,&amp;quot; they sang with her. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t know why, I just do.&amp;quot; Somewhere in their memories, where the rest was mixed up and muddled, the lyrics to the songs survived, safe from disability and time.  D.G. Fulford is the author of Designated Daughter: The Bonus Years with Mom, written with her mother Phyllis Greene. She is also the co-founder of TheRememberingSite.org. You can find her at DGFulford.com.  Photo credit: Marcia Smilack "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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