I just read a Good Tribe Facebook post that they appear to have found at youjustlearned.com that brought a smile to my face.
It said that Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh, calls sick children who are in the hospital and talks to them in character.
I’d love to the looks on the faces of the young children who hear: “Winnie the Pooh is calling for YOU!”
Isn’t that cool?! I wish I could do that for sick children.
I used to make up songs on the fly for, and about, my kids. They were usually funny or silly. My Beloved still talks about how she marveled at my ability to do that. It was fun for all of us.
It just occurred to me that since I can’t be a children star’s voice, perhaps I can make sick children the star by writing uplifting personalized songs for long-term hospitalized kids. I’ll bet I could find someone to volunteer to do a guitar vocalist recording of the songs. That way, the chldren and their parents could play their song and help keep everyone’s spirits up especially when the news is bad or they are feeling down.
If you know a relatively young child who has a long-term life-threatening illness and spends most of their days in the hospital or in bed, please email me at russtowne@yahoo.com. If their parent(s) approve, I could create a personalized song for them from information such as such as their first name, age, their favorite toys, hobbies, TV shows or movies, the color of their hair, what they are having to deal with, nicknames, etc–basically things that you and/or their parents would feel comfortable having me attempt to incorporate into a song for their child.
I’d love to try an experiment or three to see if the end result is helpful to that child and their family. If it is, I’d like to do more of them. I may have to limit the number I do per quarter if I have to pay for the vocalist or the recording, but this would be my gift to the child and they’re family.
Russ
Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 
Russ,
What a wonderful way to share your talents! I don’t know of anyone right now, but will definitely remember your post and pass this on if/when the opportunity arises.
Cathy
Thank you, Cathy. I’m grateful to Jim Cummings kindness for inspiring me to do it. If I find it works for kids and their parents, I may contact hospitals. Perhaps eventually I can get vocalists to come in and sing and play each personailzed song to the children and then hand over a recording of it. It’s not a call from Winnie the Pooh, but it just might do.
Russ
An awesome idea Russ…I hope you find a volunteer to do this for you, will pray for that very thing. You are wonderful.
Thank you, Rhonda. I welcome all prayers, good wishes, positive thoughts, etc. One can never have too many of them! I have to admit that I’m concerned that I may end disappointing children and their parents. The dreaded “What-if’s” are buzzing around like
annoying mosquitoes. What if a song accidenatlly creates more pain or embarrassment for a child? What if I get more requests than I can handle? What if I take too long to finish a song and the child dies before they can hear it? (This last one really gets to me.)
Despite the “What-ifs”, I plan to go ahead with a 1 to 3 song experiment and then decide at that point as to whether to tweak and then scale it up.
Russ
Oh Russ, it’s understandable why you’d have those thoughts, but I can think of no occasion when any child would feel pain or embarrassment from anything you would create. Truly, and from what I’ve heard of your music, and that of the people around you, your offerings would be filled with warmth, love, and fun. As to the possibility of an over abundance of requests, perhaps having a ‘bench’ would be a good idea…a bench of fellows willing to jump in to handle a few calls in tandem w/you. And the idea of doing a 1 to 3 song experiment is a good one. Having a foundation song, one that can be altered for specifics children quickly but still retain the heart, is a good idea. All the best Russ, whatever happens, you have an amazing heart. It’s a pleasure to know you.
Thank you, Rhonda. Your message means a lot to me. I appreciate your kind support and suggestions. It is likely that I will use some of your ideas in implementing this experiment.
🙂 Best wishes Russ.