By Mark Young
I recently had the honor of being included in several chapters of the RJ Guide - Reform Judaism 30 Stories. If you didn't yet make it all the way to Section VI-Making a Difference, here is part of what I wrote:

These days, one of the greatest joys for my wife Jane and me is when our 24-year-old musician son visits children's convalescent hospitals with us, our temple's mitzvah group, and recently our cantor and junior choir. Many of the patients we see have profound congenital disabilities and will never fully recover. Some people think they're unable to communicate, but we've learned this is far from the truth.

Our son finds ways to make contact, soul-to-soul, by singing and playing music. So-called "unresponsive" children begin to smile, laugh, clap, move, vocalize. One teenager was even moved to write a beautiful poem, which Harrison set to music on the spot. The kids let us know they don't want the music to end, so the Youngs are usually the last ones to leave. At these times we know we must have done something right, teaching the joy of sharing the gifts that God gave us--l'dor v'dor.

The reason that I feel it's worth repeating is that "a picture is worth a thousand words". You can see what I mean.

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