There's an old Jethro Tull song that goes "the Christmas Spirit is not what you drink." This was never more evident as a throng of entertainers led by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna, along with resident family members, Saving the Lives of Our Own, and supporters converged on the Motion Picture Home to sing songs of love and support to the residents. I guess you call it caroling. It was so much more, and it uplifted the spirits and the hopes of the future of Long Term Care.
I'm sure that the 'history of singing" can be Googled, and in that search one will find various and sundry ancient practices that used melody and harmony to ward off evil spirits. This afternoon, the benevolent spirits that voiced their love for the elderly drowned out any evil that may have been amongst us.
Not to be outdone however, they did get their licks in, and once again they missed a golden opportunity to show the public what they recently claimed to the residents: continued support for the most elderly and infirm in their care, and a renewed commitment to finding a solution to Long Term Care for the motion picture and television industry.
I want to remain positive. This being Christmas, I should take the high road in the hopes that jolly old St. Nick will smile upon all of us, and keep us from the vagaries of sugar coma and arteriosclerosis on this holiday. But then again … maybe not. I prefer the warmth of a foxhole, and do my best writing when I view things at the level of a serpent. It often gives me an eye to eye view on who I'm writing about, and on this day the serpents were among us.
But I digress …
The holiday spirit can be extremely seductive, as I found myself wishing those who I normally chastise in blogs "good cheer." It seemed a natural thing to do. Those who bought into the architecture of a campus devoid of long term and acute care, stood by us, shoulder to shoulder, singing holiday tunes. How can you be at odds with a CEO who is singing "Silver Bells?" As off-key as Bob Beitcher might have been, the sourest note was the sudden and painfully visible absence of MPTF COO and co-architect of the dismantling of Long Term Care, Seth Ellis.
I had seen him lurking in the reception area when I arrived. Like the ghost of Christmas past, his imprimatur was all over the logistics of our caroling, and in that we found ourselves limited by not only a supposed quarantine that limited our contact to only the embattled long term care unit and Harry's Haven, but by the the MPTF's crack security team that shadowed and corralled us. Their uniformed presence was anything but festive, and clashed with the festooned gift bags, gold ribbons, and funny hats that some of us wore.
Celebrities, some iconic, were treated like second graders as ground rules were mandated before the caroling began. We were there simply to sing and bring good cheer, and as difficult as it was to maintain a holiday spirit in light of the restrictions and time constraints brought down upon us, we did, and then some!
But what was so sad, was the aforementioned missed opportunity. When I arrived I noticed the electric blue of a KABC News Van was at the entrance to the Motion Picture Home. Wow, I thought — coverage!! This is what we get down on our knees before segment and unit producers to beg for. I thought finally, we were going to show a very positive side to the public, unified in our commitment to Long Term Care and singing to the residents this holiday season. Instead of protest we had progress, televised into the homes of those who might one day need the LTC.
Unfortunately, KABC was turned away.
As I write this, there must be a news producer cussing out the MPTF for sending their news team packing. Imagine a long shot of the carolers singing down a hallway, arm in arm with Bob Beitcher and other MPTF brass. A missed opportunity that once again shows the MPTF is clueless when it comes to their message. Rules of not photographing residents is a lousy excuse, especially given the advancement of digital editing bays that are in every van. The big picture was not the residents — it was the sentiment. It seemed for once we were in partnership with at least Bob Beitcher in forging a new commitment to 'We Take Care of Our Own'.
There was no excuse for it, and it cost them and their message dearly. Such a shame during this time of the year.
As we got the word that our time was up, we took last photos and warmly hugged each other. I was able to thank my Mom's caregivers for providing such excellent care in the final years of her life. Bob Beitcher even acknowledged to me that he'd see us next year.
It's too bad that I was the only one to hear it. It could have made for an incredibly uplifting and powerful holiday message.
