音樂的力量

山東 韓良朋

弗雷迪·富勒是一位68歲的鄉村和民謠音樂家。 多年以來，他篤信聽覺是人臨終前最后

喪失的感覺。 為此，他用自己的音樂為一位位臨終病人送行。

題材音樂體裁記敘文文章詞數 難度 建議用時345 ★★★ 6 分鐘

When Freddie Fuller, a 68-year-old country and folk musician, arrived to perform in the hospital room. Pam Golightly worried it was already too late. Her stepfather, Dennis Strobel, was dying.

“You're probably wasting your time,” Golightly told Fuller.

But Fuller, shared with her what medical professionals had told him over the years: Hearing may be the last sense to go. “Let me go in and play,” he said. “It's as much for you as it is for him.”

Growing up in Salado, Texas, Fuller heard music all the time from his mother. When she was dying of cancer in 1987, he put their love of song to its greatest use. He would crawl into her hospital bed with his guitar and sing her favorite songs. His mother seemed to relax, a peaceful look crossing her face.

“That moment allowed her and me to connect like we used to when I was singing as a kid,” Fuller recalls. It emphasized to him the power of music. Consciously（有意識地） or subconsciously, people allow it to go to deep parts of their hearts and souls, Fuller believes.

Since 2005, he has performed dozens of musical vigils （守夜祈禱）. Sometimes they're almost festive, with terminally（晚 期 地） ill people surrounded by family. Other times,they're quieter, as Fuller's experience with his mom was. And sometimes they feel a bit like a miracle.

That was the case with Golightly's stepfather. When Fuller arrived at the hospital that day, Strobel seemed ready to say goodbye. Golightly watched their stepdad's every breath,each holding one of his hands. Fuller played some music. After 45 minutes, Golightly asked for just one more song. Fuller chose Love, Me, a country ballad by Collin Raye. “I played the last song and he took his last breath,” Fuller says.

“Golightly and I looked at one another,saying, ‘Oh my God, we just experienced one of the most magical moments in our lives.’”

“It was a gift for us all,” Golightly says of Fuller's singing. “At a really sad time, it was beautiful.”

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