For the past year, I have been directing the music program at the Snyder Center for Aphasia Life Enhancement in Baltimore, Maryland. Using the members’ own words, I have written a song entitled “One Day at a Time” that reflects the determination and resilience of this inspiring group of people. Since February 2014, we have been rehearsing the song, and we will be performing the song at a number of events in Baltimore during the summer. Watching a group of people with aphasia as they sing a song that they helped to write never fails to remind me that anything is possible with the right outlook.
This is a song about aphasia written by people living with aphasia:
My mind is a box, and I’ve lost the key.
There are so many words inside of me
And I am wishin’ they’d try to listen.
If they’d open up my doors,
They’d know I’ve got a whole wide world
Of information and conversation.
Every day I try
To keep my spirits high.
One day at a time, I find new ways to share my mind.
There’s no mountain I can’t climb with my dedication.
Despite what it seems, yes, it’s still up to me.
Oh, the future is my creation.
It is what it is. It’s reality.
I talk to God and my family.
It’s my ambition to help them listen.
My mind is a box, and it’s filled with words,
But most of the time they go unheard.
If I believe it, then I’ll achieve it.
Every day I try
To keep my spirits high.
One day at a time, I find new ways to share my mind
There’s no mountain I can’t climb with my dedication.
Despite what it seems, yes, it’s still up to me.
Oh, the future is my creation.
‘Cause we are a family, we have a bond.
Though it’s hard, we keep carryin’ on.
My mind is a box and I’ve lost the key.
There are so many words inside of me,
And I am wishin’ that they would listen.
The words in my head don’t reach my tongue,
But there’s life in the air and it fills my lungs
And if I breathe it, I can achieve it.
Every day I try.
To keep my spirits high.
One day at a time, I find new ways to share my mind.
There’s no mountain I can’t climb with my dedication.
Despite what it seems, yes, it’s still up to me.
Oh, the future is my creation.
‘Cause we are a family, we have a bond.
Though it’s hard, we keep carrying on.
Though it’s hard, we keep carrying on.
One Day at a Time!
Noel, I am so proud to be your dad!
If you can carry through life the priceless ability you have to see things not as they are, but as they could be, you will always bring hope to those you help, and continue to be an inspiration for others. What a blessing it was for you to be introduced to scale, and subsequently Lingraphica. Both have provided you an opportunity to grow into the person you are! I love the melody and the lyrics are truly beautiful. If you get to record the whole thing with members of your group,
let’s try to get some air time. One Day at a Time! Perfect!
Love you, Dad