Get your tissues ready.
Some videos touch your heart in a special kind of way, flooding your senses with empathy, love, and joy, all simultaneously. We’ve all seen them, the remarkable and touching moments that can instantly make you tear up.
When this 92-year-old pianist with dementia, gets a break from the disease to play a Beethoven piece from memory, it will surely melt your heart!
92-year-old Elaine Lebar went viral on TikTok for playing “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven despite the debilitating disease she’s fighting.
The treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s have come a long way with new technology, but as of now there is still no cure for memory loss and confusion. That’s what makes these illnesses especially heartbreaking, as families are forced to watch their loved ones forget much of the life they had—including their own family members.
Randi Leber is one of the many people who know this pain all too well.
After moving her mother to a memory care facility almost three years ago, she started recording videos of her playing the piano for her personal memories, and also “with the goal of raising awareness about Alzheimer’s dementia.” Little did she know the videos would be a giant hit on the internet, inspiring people all around the world!
When Elaine’s daughter asks her to play “Moonlight Sonata,” the 92-year-old responds “I don’t know it” before suddenly playing it with flawless precision.
Elaine is not just able to remember the complex piece, she’s able to gracefully glide her fingers across the keys of her piano and begin playing it beautifully.
The uplifting 55-second clip of the 92-year-old playing “Moonlight Sonata” was so powerful that it quickly blew up on TikTok.
It was soon being reported by top media outlets like the New York Post. In an interview with Storyful, Randi explained:
“I did not anticipate that it would go viral but here we are,” she went on to say: “My mom, a professional musician, has significant dementia, but life makes sense to her at the piano.”
Some research suggests music may help Alzheimer’s patients in several ways.
Classical music has been proven to help patients with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to Living Better With:
“A massive study of more than 25,000 nursing home residents found that those who listened to a personal playlist (a list of carefully selected favorite music chosen specially for them) were ‘significantly more likely’ to no longer need anti-psychotic drugs,” it goes on to say: “Classical music can help slow down the onset of dementia, according to research. People who listened to Mozart were shown in a Finnish study to have enhanced gene activity in areas of the brain connected with memory and learning.
Unfortunately, the pandemic has made life even more difficult for Elaine and Randi, forcing them to do visits through the windows of the memory care facility in Buzzardbay, Massachusetts for months at a time.
The inspiring video of Elaine has been viewed over two million times on TikTok alone!
It’s easy to see why so many people were touched by this video.
My own grandmother suffers from dementia, so seeing this instantly made me think about her and the countless people going through the same struggle. With the coronavirus raging on, older people with and without dementia need us more than ever, and this video is just another reminder.
To see Elaine go to town playing “Moonlight Sonata,” just watch the video below!
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