Minnesota's Building Bridges Choir using music to help seniors with memory loss

When a loved one starts to lose their memory, it creates new challenges for family members. But in a western Minnesota town, they're battling Alzheimer's disease and dementia with music. 

Jan Lerohl is the music director for Building Bridges Choir in Granite Falls.  

"We have people who maybe lost a spouse, and socialization is important. And we all know the more you sing, it stimulates your memories, it keeps your memories alive," Lerohl said.  

It's the method behind the music. Besides singing, nearly everyone here has something in common. Either they, or a loved one, have suffered from some form of memory loss.

Lerohl has watched the choir more than double in size over the past decade. Her mother was even part of the choir before passing away from a form of dementia. 

"She enjoyed the fellowship and friendships, even though she was struggling," Lerohl said.

The fellowship is what appealed to Danny and Rosalene Mooney.   

"We like singing together, so we enjoy it very much," said Danny Mooney.

The Mooneys were high school sweethearts and have been married for 62 years. 

"Danny has Parkinson's and some dementia, so I'm his wife and caregiver," said Rosalene Mooney. "It's been a real good support for me as well.

The songs we sing, and that, bring back memories," said Danny Mooney.

Research shows that musical memories are the last memories to leave you, so the choir performs church hymns and patriotic songs at senior living facilities and veterans homes.

"We've gotten standing ovations, yes we have," Lerohl said. "A sense of belonging, that they are important, that they still have something to contribute."

It's a different kind of trip down memory lane; one that every person in this choir is happy to take.

"We're a family. I don't know how else to describe it. We have become a family. It's been wonderful over the years to see how they care for one another," Lerohl said.

The Building Bridges Choir practices every Thursday morning at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Granite Falls.