Frank and I used to drop in several times a year to the nursing home on Cape Cod where his mother was living. She had Alzheimer's, and died this past June. This will be the first year in many that we won't be there to do songs for Christmas, or for that matter, songs for spring or fall or summer. The drive to the Cape will not likely happen, but we also do a few things locally whenever we can.

For us, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving or Christmas Day without bringing some music to the local soup kitchen. It's one of the things that make it feel like a holiday for us. We've been doing it for so many years that people know us now. Some faces are there year after year and others are new each year. By the time we've gone through an hour of lively songs and watched the silent, still crowd turn into a foot-tapping, smiling bunch, we're both higher than a kite and ready to face our own holiday at home, whatever it might be. This year, my son and his family from CA are coming for Thanksgiving, along with my other son from NY. I'm thrilled and blessed that they will all be here, but we're still going down to the soup kitchen to share some of our joy. They won't miss us for an hour, but the soup kitchen might.

Try it, you'll like it.