By Kathleen McAleese
Editor-in-Chief

Alzheimer’s disease affects the lives of many elderly people and the effects of the loss of memory can be painful for any family to watch. Senior Ally Mooney has seen the effects of the disease in her own grandmother, but Mooney also has seen the effects of music in the lives of others.

“Imagining gathering all this wisdom and experience over a life time and then watching it slip away, knowing you can’t do a thing to stop it. It’s just horrifying,” she said.

Mooney is taking her love of music and reaching out to elderly people suffering with Alzheimer’s disease to bring back music that they once knew. She started an iPod drive at Westford Academy with the initiative to wipe the iPods clear of memory and download music of elderly folk’s choosing to help bring back memories and life of the past.

Bridges by EPOCH, the resident care center that Mooney is working with, is divided into four neighborhoods, each with around 15 people. Her goal in collection was four iPods, but was overwhelmed with a grand total of seven that she received. Each neighborhood will receive one of the devices and the remaining three could be used for individual use, podcasts, or poetry.

“My hope for this is for people to realize just how powerful music is, and it could make the difference between living the last few years in utter isolation or surrounded by familiarity and fulfillment.”

With the help of Tri–M volunteers, the team will establish which songs work for which individual, bringing a lost memory back into clear vision.

“All of the sudden they have an identity and a place in the world again, they’re able to communicate and feel joy again,” she said. “It’s purely magic.”

Mooney hopes that her efforts in bringing music back into the lives will translate in healthier, happier living. 

“I’m just trying to make it known how easy it is to give such an immense joy to a person, and I think people really took hold of that,” she said.