Just When I Needed You Most

A patient’s daughter in her 50s was walking out the door as I was entering front lobby doors of hospital. She stopped me before I entered and asked, “Are you the lady who plays the harp? Will you please play for me?” All at once, she started crying uncontrollably and releasing her frustrations out loud. I quickly and calmly pulled out my harp and Kleenex pouch for her and played soothing sounds in a pentatonic scale. I heard her praying and started matching her words to Christian music. She closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. She said, “You have such a gift from God. Thank you.” As I finished the session with “Amazing Grace,” the breeze picked up and started vibrating the whole harp like a Zephyr wind. The daughter sighed and was ready to go back inside and deal with her troubled siblings and her 90-year-old father who was dying of cancer. “You were here just right when I needed it most.”