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May 29, 2009

"Healing is communication; and music, in its universal nature, is total communication. In the deepest mysteries of music are the inspirations, the pathways, and the healing which lead to one-ness and unity." --Olivea Dewhurst-Maddock

Purple Songs Can Fly

In her room at Texas Children's Cancer Center in Houston, eight-year-old Simran Jatar lay hooked up to a chemo drip to fight her bone cancer. Over her bald head, she wore a pink hat that matched her pajamas. But the third grader's cheery outfit didn't mask her pain and weary eyes. Then a visitor showed up. "Do you want to write a song?" asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone, and speakers. Simran stared. "Have you ever written a poem?" Kruse continued. Well, yes, Simran said. Within minutes, she was reading her poem into the microphone. "Some bird soaring through the sky," she said softly. "Imagination in its head..." Kruse added piano chords, a few warbling birds, and finally her own voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song. That was the beginning of Purple Songs Can Fly, a project that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs.