August 22 was the 66th wedding anniversary for Jerome Bourgouis and his wife Agnes. The 91-year-old sang the same love song he has every year on their anniversary: “Wind Beneath my Wings”.
This is particularly significant this year because his voice was something he recently feared losing.
Two years ago he was diagnosed with vocal cord atrophy — a condition where the vocal cords shrink and fail to touch. It was devastating to Jerome, who spent 19 years with the Houston Symphony Chorus. For the Army veteran and former school superintendent, music has always been his respite. During the pandemic when he felt so disconnected from friends and neighbors he would go out on the balcony at the independent living facility he calls home and sing. Losing the ability even to do that confidently was devastating to him.
But he wasn’t ready to give up. He sought therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, where therapists designed a rehabilitation plan focused on vocal exercises and breathing technique.
He’s completed therapy and not only is he back to singing in the mornings from his balcony but he is singing to his wife again, too. This is particularly poignant because mother nature has begun to steal some of her memory and cognition. Music is how they still connect.
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