And I Love Her

How many posts can I name after Beatles songs?

During my 5 days in the psych unit, I encountered some interesting people. When I first got up there, I was still pretty out of it and probably looked terrified. After some time, I became more comfortable with my surroundings (as comfortable as you can get when you're involuntarily admitted to the mental health unit). There was a guy across the hall from me who was my alarm clock. Every morning between 7-7:30, I woke up to him screaming at the "person" in his room with him (he was in a room by himself) that he was going to beat the shit out of him and fuck him up. He also said at one point that he was going to kill everyone here. That was fun. The staff didn't seem concerned about him because apparently he was a regular in the psych unit. Other people looked completely out of it like they were just pumped full of meds.

My first group therapy I attended was on spirituality. As the Chaplin went around and got everyone's names, she got to one guy who looked pretty zoned out. I had not seen him before since they have the floor split up into west and east and we only mingled with the other side in group activities. He quietly told her that his name was Bruce. She asked for his last name. He said "Wayne". The chaplain started to write that down and said, "Very funny, that's batman. What is your real last name?". With the smallest smile starting to show on his face he says "Almighty". Again she asked "what is your real last name?" He looked up at her with a big smile and said "Willis". I don't even remember his actual last name, but he was memorable to me because of his undercover jokester attitude.

Later that day, I went to another group therapy - All Request Hour. We got to sit in a room and color while we took turns requesting songs from YouTube. Seriously, you have no idea how nice it was to hear music and do something that felt relatively normal. As we were sitting there waiting for the group leader to come in, I started asking everyone what song or artist they were going to request and in walks Bruce. Right away I said, "Hey, it's Bruce Wayne!" and he smiled. I asked him what he was going to request an he responded "Beatles". I told him that we would get along well and asked him who his favorite Beatle was and what songs he liked the most. He said he really liked Paul and after some thought, his favorite song was "And I Love Her". I told him that even though I tend to be more of a fan of George, I always liked that song a lot. When it was his turn to pick, he of course picked this song and sat there and closed his eyes and mouthed the words with a smile on his face. If you're wondering what I picked, obviously it was "The Light of the Seven"! Duh!

A few days later, I was sitting in the hallway waiting for my meeting with my psychiatrist (it was my 4th day and I was hoping to get news that I'd be discharged ASAP). As I'm sitting there, I see Bruce shuffling down the hallway. He seemed like he was in his own world. I almost didn't say anything to him because he looked so out of it, but I decided to say "Good morning, Bruce. How are you?". It was as if a light switched on and he looked at me and said "It's Tuesday. Tuesday is terrific!". I asked him what the Beatles song of the day was and after thinking for a few seconds he started singing "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday...". I said "Bruce! That's not the Beatles". He looked at me with a smile and said "I was testing you." I told him that I wasn't too familiar with The Rolling Stones and he said "Better to know the Beatles anyway", which I couldn't agree with more. 😊😁

I asked him if he were in a band, what instrument would he want to play. He talked about how much he liked the drums and that he always wanted to sing. He then shared with me that he was bullied when he was little. I felt so bad- he was such a kind, sweet man and I could tell how much he enjoyed having someone to talk to. As we talked, I must have said something that made him laugh and I said "Well at least I made you smile today!" and the guy who was sitting next to me chimed in and said "That has been your whole purpose in being here; to make people smile. I have seen how you take the time to talk to people and you always made them smile." Right after that, I got called in to my doctor meeting, but that comment meant so much to me. I never saw Bruce again, but I am glad that I got the chance to talk to him and make him smile. I think of him every time I hear "And I love her". We never know how God is going to use us to bring a smile or shine light into someone else's life. 🌞💟😊✨