Summit Wellness: Gratitude - "Shine That Light Down"

Wellness can be achieved by virtue of completing a journey and maintain a lifestyle. But it can also be magnified by our ability to appreciate and be thankful for the things that we already have! Summit Wellness continues to hum the melody of connection between feeling good and feeling grateful!

"Shine That Light Down"
By Matt Anthony - Summit FM Contributor

The long strands of gray clouds were nearly motionless on top of southwestern Pennsylvania’s hilly skyline. We had crossed over the border from Ohio to the Commonwealth, preparing ourselves to pay that absurd amount of money that allows you to drive that paltry 20 miles or so on the beginning stretch of the Turnpike.

Forever in search of quality used camera gear, I calculated how much more I could spent had I not been required to fork over $13.75 to the PA Turnpike Commission. But the used Pelican case that I located from a seller near Cranberry was going to be expensive enough.

My wife, Donna, and I decided to ‘make a day of it’ in our journey over to Pittsburgh. But she was particularly quiet and not very talkative. I switched platforms from The Summit FM over to Pandora, and then over to Apple Music, hoping that some genre of music would move the needle for her. But she remained reserved. Even the glowing pink swath of color, normally a staple in the left side of her hair, seemed muted and silent on this frigid day.

As some know, my bride was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019. It’s unquestionably the most challenging journey that we’ve encountered during the 35 years that we’ve been together. On a day-to-day basis, though, the one change that I noticed almost immediately was this horrible disease’s ability to ‘turn her inward’, to make her much more introspective and at times a bit sullen.

Pelican case secured, I tried to interest her in stopping for a hot chocolate somewhere, or even touring our old haunts in the North Hills.  But nothing really seemed to interest her.  Having lived in Pittsburgh for 5 years, we have fond memories. (aside from those two Sundays out of the year when wearing brown and orange in the Steel City might have the potential for landing you in the Emergency Room!) But the chilly, gray overcast day seemed to contribute to the melancholy texture of the day. So, we jumped on the Turnpike and headed back to Akron.

At The Summit FM, we often talk about the ‘power of music’.  Brad Savage glows about it as he’s boasting of a weekend conquest at a record store. Chad Miller waxes philosophical about it as he recounts a late-night trip to a show in Columbus. And, of course, all of us include it in our pleas during a membership-drive, that shared passion that binds us and makes us whole.

But this power can also be much more spiritual, much more organic. And in Donna’s case, maybe even ‘chemical’. The brain is a complex, multi-dimensional organ. I don’t claim to understand it.  What I do know is that the organ inside the head of this ultra-talented, kind, considerate, clever, and funny person is one that I’ve admired and loved for over three decades. And it baffles me how easy it is for this terrible illness to be a thief.

Donna silently stared out the window, gazing at the last remaining homes on the hills that we could see there in western Pennsylvania. As we were set to cross back over into Ohio, I looked down at my phone (which, yes, I’m not supposed to do while driving) and quickly bumped the music category from ‘Contemporary Jazz’ to ‘90’s Alt Rock’. The first song that popped up was ‘Shine’ from Collective Soul.

And then everything changed. 

It was like a light switch suddenly turned on and the juice flowed, unfettered. It was the most awe-inspiring metamorphosis that I had ever witnessed. Donna was a changed person.

She rocked back and forth. She danced from side to side in the passenger seat. She took her left hand (she’s a ‘southpaw’), formed it into a fist, and was mightily punching the air on every drum-beat. And on the second group of ‘Whoa… Heaven Let Your Love Shine Down’ lines, she would end each one with an extremely audible ‘WOO’! That splotch of pink in her hair was given new life as it frolicked and swayed to every movement.

I was almost unable to control myself. Again, exhibiting pitifully bad driving behavior, I grabbed my phone and hit the ‘re-start’ arrow on the song, just so that I could capture this performance on video, one eye on the Turnpike and one eye on my screen.

It was as if the 90’s Alt-Rock divinities took the Alzheimer’s demon by the throat, flung it as hard as it could down the steps, and sneered at it, joyfully, as it writhed in agony, reminding it that absolutely nothing conquers the undeniable, irrefutable, unquestionable power of music.

I am so grateful for that day.  

Sometimes, for fun, I’ll secretly choose that song and pop it on the car-radio without saying anything.  We both laugh about it, and she’ll ‘re-create’ that epic day for a couple of seconds in the car, mimicking our drive back from Pittsburgh.  And sometimes, when a similar instance occurs, where she, again, seems withdrawn and isolated, I secretly scroll through my phone, find that video, and watch a few seconds of it.  

I know that deep within the recesses of that gorgeous, beautiful mind that no disease can truly defeat it as long as the love shines down.