Gladys Wilson and Naomi Feil

When people are very old and deteriorated

and no one enters their world

and they're just sitting there

they will withdraw inward more and more

and their desperate need for connection

is all now inside

and if a person is all alone

even if they're very, very deteriorated

there's a longing for this kind of closeness

Mrs. Wilson, Hello.

You want me to sit?

Can you see me good?

Gladis Wilson is a wonderful example of

a person who was in the phase

of repeptative motion

where people use movements

repeptitive movements

because they don't have any more speech

or very little speech

but they have human needs

that need to be expressed

...

Are you crying?

You're crying, you have a tear right here.

In your face.

You have a little pain?

You want me to touch you?

You're very sad?

Can you see me?

Is it scary? Are you afraid?

And if this person sits with their eyes closed

rocking back and forth and maybe there's a tear

coming down

there's a need there

there's a little tear, that's coming out

You feel it?

You feel a little tear?

If you gently

use touch, and I touched Gladis Wilson with the fingertips

right here on the cheek

is where the mother

usually touches a child

if you touch an infant there

it looks up and every cell

remembers where it was touched

by the mother

and often that person

knows even if they can't

say a word at that moment

they won't talk.

Or they don't want to talk

but there's a communication

And that person is no longer alone

can you let me in a little bit

you think, just a little

you think I could be with you and Jesus for a minute

pat, pat, pat

Jesus loves me

this I know

for the bible tells me so.

I used music because

when speech is gone

music especially

with Gladis Wilson it was religious music.

Because there's an emotion tied to it.

And safety tied to it.

So i used her old church songs.

Singing: Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, Yes Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so

What I did was when she moved

I moved with her

and when I was singing because she didn't sing with me so I

matched the intensity of my voice to the intensity of her movements

and pretty soon for a split second

we became one person

Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so.

So at one point when she got

very quite

and very peaceful

and my voice became

very quiet as hers and very peaceful and my breathing

slowed to her breathing

she pulled me to her

and I moved with her

and for her at that moment

I believe I was a symbol of her mom

Can you open your eyes now?

Do you see me?

Feel safe and warm?

Yes, yes can you sing with me?

He's got the whole world

in his hands,

he's got the whole world in his hands

he's got the whole world

in his hands he's got the whole world

in his hands.

He's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the mother's and the father's

in his hands

he's got the mother's and the father's

in his hands

he's got the mother's and the father's

in his hands

he's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got the mother's and the father's

The breakthrough

doesn't happen every time

the person

will not always

open their eyes and look at you

but if you keep trying

and you keep centering yourself

and really look at that person

and really mirror their movements

maybe not this time

but the next time you come

you'll have a communication.

Do you feel safe? You feel safe? Yeah.

With Jesus, yeah. And me.