Clowning for Families in the Hospital...

Dr. Gizmo and I were traveling walking through the pediatric ICU unit of the hospital. Many of the patients in this area are unconscious. However, sometimes, we find a patient who is awake and eager to see us. Today that's what happened. We saw a young 10-year-old patient. The family of the patient was just as anxious to see us as the child. When we first entered the room, we were playing music. The mother danced as I played the Prince song, "Kiss." I played the verse, then the chorus, which leads up to the final line of the song.

"Ain't no particular sound I'm more compatible with,

I just want your extra time and your…."

I paused and waited for the mom to finish the lyric with …. "Kiss." The patient waved his arms along with the beat of the music as his mom sang.

After that, Dr. Gizmo and I juggled. We passed six balls between us across the room. One of the adults in the room had their phone out. I assume they were recording the performance to watch later. After our music and juggling, we left the room. On our way out, mom insisted that we go by the waiting room and see her two younger children.

As we went into the waiting room, there was only one family there, the family of the patient we had just seen. We played music for the family as well. Then, the two younger family members, around four and five years old, insisted that we repeat the things we had just done in the patient room. The family member with the phone wasn't recording our performance. She was sharing them by phone to her family members in the ICU. At this point, the two younger children were very familiar with what we had just done. They wanted to see it again. We were happy to repeat the material. The siblings were too young to go into the ICU room. That's why they were in the waiting room. However, this time, they saw us in person.