Blues music can sometimes be misunderstood. Just because it’s called ‘the blues’, it doesn’t mean that the music is sad; there is a depth of emotion. The same can be said about hospice care. It is not just about saying goodbye to a loved one but celebrating their life as well.
For more than a year now, EveryStep’s Kavanagh House has hosted a monthly concert series with the Central Iowa Blues Society. One Saturday a month, the rooms and halls are filled with the sound of music to ease worried minds and soothe aching souls.
In June, Deanna (Dee) May was admitted to Kavanagh House as her fight with pancreatic cancer neared the end. “This was our first choice. This is where we wanted to be,” Dee’s daughter, Amy, remembers, “And it all worked out.” There was another sign – literally – that they were in the right place.
“My aunt and I were doing a tour of the facility, and we happened to notice a flyer for (musician) Dewey Cantrell. And the most ironic thing is that he grew up on the exact same street as my mom,” Amy says. The stage was set not just for a concert, but for an overdue reunion as well.
“I had this gig booked for several weeks ... I've done it a couple times before, and I really enjoyed it,” Dewey Cantrell remembers, “So, I walk in and get all set up and am getting ready to play, then I walked around the corner and I'm like, ‘whoa, what?’ There is Dee, and her sister Deb and younger sister, Denise, and another classmate of ours!”
Dewey says he knew Dee’s diagnosis and had stopped by her house to see her, but she was too ill for guests at the time. But fate had other plans for these former childhood neighbors and best friends.
“This all took place like 15 minutes before I was supposed to start. So I thought, I need to try to play some kind of uplifting or happy songs - not a lot of dismal, woe is me stuff,” Dewey says, “But I get the feeling that if I had played horrible stuff, Deb would have still liked it.”
“It was just an amazing coincidence,” Amy said, “They rolled her bed out here, and she got to listen to him, and I could see that really brought a smile to her face, too.”
“We hugged; we kissed; lots of emotion. I got a chance to talk to Dee and hold her hand personally,” Dewey says.
“Then I went back and played my second set and they uplifted me. I felt good and for every smile that came back at me, it just energized me. And in an odd way - and I know this sounds almost bizarre - but it was like a great audience. I think I was doing a fair job of uplifting them, and they uplifted me,” he says.
“Mom is pretty easy to light up anyway,” Amy says, “She's a smiler, she's a happy person, and so then to see somebody that she recognized that had been so long, I think that really put a smile on her face.”
Deanna May passed away at the Kavanagh House surrounded by family on June 13th, one week after Dewey’s performance.
You can catch live blues music at the Kavanagh House on Saturday, Uly 18th with Tom Buckmiller and on Saturday, August 1st with Scott Eggleston. Shows start at 1:00 p.m. Future dates and performers will be announced later.
