This past summer, in a quiet room at Hospice Cape Breton, someone asked to hear the song “Let It Be.” As the song filled the space, a conversation began. What words of wisdom do we carry? What would we want to leave behind for others?

Jill Murphy, a music therapist with the Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton County, couldn’t stop thinking about that moment. “I often listen to people speaking and wonder what advice they would give to others if they had the chance,” she says.

So she asked. Over the next month, Jill sat with patients, staff and volunteers from both Hospice and An Cala and invited them to share their wisdom. Some knew right away. Others carried the question with them for a few days.

Many said at first that they had nothing worth sharing. But with a little time and gentle encouragement, and after hearing what others had offered, they found their words. “I think they felt important knowing that someone wanted to hear their advice,” says Jill.

Then came the music. One by one, members of our palliative care community sang the chorus of “Let It Be” over a piano track Jill recorded herself. Their words of wisdom were woven between each chorus. Friends of the Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton County, Presley and Ron, mixed the audio. Presley is the daughter of Lisa McNeil-Campbell, our Palliative Care Volunteer Program Lead. Social Work student Nicole MacNeil brought it all together on video.

The result is a gift made by many hands. Board members, staff, patients, families and volunteers each gave something of themselves.

“It didn’t matter if you were 25 or 85,” says Jill. “Every voice mattered. And when they blended together, they became something bigger than any one of us.”

Several of the patients who shared their voices died before the project was finished. Every one of them had family at the release to honour them.

“I think it will be healing in some way,” Jill said before the release. “Not just to hear their words but to reconnect with the other families who have also lost their person.”

Their words live on. And now they belong to all of us.

To every patient, family member, staff member and volunteer who shared their voice and their wisdom, thank you. Thank you to Jill for her vision and care, to Presley and Ron for their talent and to Nicole for bringing it all to life. Together, you created something our community will treasure for years to come.