Dad plays the piano at his 99th birthday celebration last July.

The Singers

My dad said he didn’t sleep well his first night in the assisted-living facility. It was because of the music. This was in October. After some eight years in an associated independent living facility down the street, he’d had two hospitalizations in six months, each followed by a short stint in a rehab facility....

Advice From My Father

The best advice I can ever remember receiving came from my father. I think I was probably about 14 or 15 years old, on the cusp of high school and all the changes that come with that transition. I have a mental image that he’s telling me this while he’s driving me someplace—we’re on...