Halfway to Heaven: Love Song to a Wife with Alzheimer’s, Inspires Fellow Caregivers (Video)
(Elizabeth Schanz, Jan. 19, 2023)
Addison Township, MI – An Oakland County man’s song is giving hope to individuals and loved ones of those afflicted with Alzheimer’s, a disease that cannot be cured or reversed.
John Barczyk wrote “Halfway to Heaven” for his wife Joyce who suffered from Alzheimer’s. The song mirrors the stages of Alzheimer’s and hopes to connect to the experiences of those afflicted with the disease and affected loved ones.
The journey of Barczyk and his wife began in high school after she was a date of a friend to their senior prom. He expressed that he fell in love with her almost instantly. The pair was married after college and were together for over 50 years, 11 of which the couple worked through the struggles of Alzheimer’s.
In the summer of 2004, Barcyzk began developing early signs of Alzheimer’s in which she exhibited odd, out of the ordinary behavior and confusion. Barcyzk went to multiple medical professionals to receive a diagnosis and testing, a process that he recalled as emotional and difficult for both him and his wife.
“From the very beginning she was totally courageous about it. When I think back, she didn’t break down in tears, she basically accepted it,” Barcyzk said. “She did it with all the confidence in the world. She instilled in me a desire to do everything I could to help her.”
He said that his wife was “willing to help everyone at any time” and knew that he would do the same for her.
Barcyzk said that he looked for any solution to help ease the effects and improve the living conditions that his wife was experiencing. He worked to establish a diet and exercise routine that was meant to slow the effects of the disease, consistently looked into new research and wished to integrate music therapy in new ways.
Barczyk originally took his own approach to the idea of music therapy by creating a playlist called “Joyce’s tunes” of his wife’s favorite songs. Then, he would look to see what music she reacted positively towards.
“When I was looking for songs to add to the playlist, I realized there were a lot of songs written about Alzheimer’s. They are all kind of about the pain of it,” Barcyzk said. “They typically chronicle the decline of the person and the sadness involved and they don’t offer anything even resembling hope.”
Barcyzk creates music that gives people “something to hope for.” He said that he was inspired by a seminar from Teepa Snow who taught a positive approach to dementia and presented the idea that Alzheimer’s is a journey.
He reflected on what this journey could be within his original song. “Halfway to Heaven” shows that the Alzheimer’s journey can lead to a positive end or ultimate peace for the individual.
“I decided to write a song that basically people dealing with the disease could see themselves or their family member in various stages and see that as a step toward the ultimate journey, which would be essentially heaven,” Barcyzk said.
The finished song is sung by Kaitlyn Ridgeway, a board certified music therapist with Hospice of Michigan.
Ridgeway encouraged Barcyzk to use the song to spread awareness for Alzheimer’s and the effect that music therapy can have for patients.
“There’s something about creativity that continues, long after other facilities diminish,” said Barcyzk. “Music is one that you can involve yourself or involve the patient in passively.”
Within his wife’s struggle with Alzheimer’s, Barczyk said that he commonly held onto what he and his wife could continue to do together: watching old movies with happy endings, viewing home videos and one of their favorite activities, watching the sunset on their porch looking out at the beautiful Lakeville Lake.
Barczyk’s song works to express not only his love and hope for his wife but present support to others facing similar challenges. He feels that his song has the power to connect to the internal and external experience of people impacted by Alzheimer’s.
“I look at this song to keep her memory alive and do something that I think she would want to do if she could, to help other people with the disease and their families,” Barczyk said.
“Halfway to Heaven” can be found on Youtube. (Click here to view)