Just Read the Song, Amanda.

In my defense, Luke took a VERY long time on his Music Therapy assignment. He was supposed to find a song (any song) that would meet one of the goals of therapy, which are "inspiring movement, teaching about emotions, encouraging social interaction".....and one I can't remember.

Anyway, after watching him perform random Google searches for at least three hours, I offered a couple of perfectly good suggestions. Just about every kid song ever written meets all four goals! But, he had a high standard, and--by the fourth hour--he decided the only way to get what he wanted was to write an original song. Since I knew it would take another couple hours from there, I started reading in bed until I felt sleepy. Alright, fine, I didn't exactly read quietly. Now and then I called out, "Are you done YET?" and "I don't understand why every, single assignment takes you a full day."

But, the final sin of the night came when Luke marched proudly into the bedroom, holding a copy of his finished song, and I refused to read it. It was nearly 11:00pm, and I had turned off the light already. But the fact is, there was no reason not to turn the light back on and spend 2 minutes affirming my husband's work. Instead, I said point blank, "I'm so sick of this assignment that I've grown to hate this song before I've even read it. You want me to be encouraging, and I can't do it right now."

Fail.

Had I killed my pride and been a servant, this is what I would have seen:

Sammy’s Song
By: Luke McKinney (2010)

Hello friends this is my pal Sammy,
He woke up one day without his short-term memory
But we can help him out by remembering for him,
‘Cause he won’t have a clue by the end of this song.

He forgets that growing up he had a best friend, Willie
Who never left his house for fear of getting chilly
He also had a neighbor, who was really quite odd,
He had a foot for a hand and his name was Tod.

Will you help me remember he begs and pleads?
I don’t want to forget them after everyone leaves.
If you remember their names and a little bit about ’em
I will write it all down and they won’t be forgotten.

Well, Sammy had a dog that wouldn’t do any tricks
He wasn’t much for playing dead or fetching any sticks
But he could bark a tune that’d stop a baby’s cry,
It worked every time so he named him Lullaby,

Will you help me remember he begs and pleads?
I don’t want to forget them after everyone leaves.
If you remember their names and a little bit about them
I will write it all down and they won’t be forgotten.

He wrote the song with Alzheimer's patients in mind, and it goes on to ask them for details they remember about each character. But, the point is, I missed the chance to enjoy a goofy song and simultaneously build up my husband, and why? Now, I can't even remember the reason I refused.