Pines Village volunteer profile: Sharon Costas

Twice a week, Pines Village residents get a little extra treat with dinner.

Live piano music.

And it’s not just any music. Volunteer Sharon Costas presents favorites from the 1920s to the ‘40s. The standards, she says.

Although the songs are relatively new to her repertoire, they’re not new to her appreciative listeners.

“I don’t have a history with these songs, I just like them,” Sharon says. “But the residents actually have connections with them. That’s what neat for me, to see that these songs are so meaningful for them.

“These people have all lived through the Great Depression. All the positive music that came out of the Depression is amazing. When you’d think they’d be singing gloom and doom, they’re singing ‘Blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do I see’ or ‘Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money, maybe we're ragged and funny, but we'll travel along, singin' a song--side by side.’ I enjoy being a part of that.”

And that’s Sharon’s little secret: as much as she loves her music, it’s not her only gig at Pines Village. As with most volunteering, Sharon says she gains even more from the experience than she puts in. The piano is really just a cover -- an “in” – to create a connection and get to know the residents.

“I’ve met so many great people,” Sharon says, her face shining as she describes her visits. “They look forward to it, and I’d better not be a no-show without a good reason!”

Several residents have brought along sheet music, CDs and pictures to share with her, which she enjoys tremendously.

The idea to play dinner music came to Sharon during the opening reception for Pines Village’s milestone 2010 renovation.  She noticed the piano being played in the lobby was of good quality and portable.  A long-time pianist, she had recently started jazz piano lessons with a teacher in Chicago and thought she could contribute to Pines Village by sharing her new talents.

And she thought right.

She loves playing and residents get to hear songs they may not have heard for years. “For me it was just a perfect fit,” she says.

Sharon recalls tears on the face of resident Irene Malasto during her rendition of the World War II-era favorite “I’ll Be Seeing You.” For Irene and her husband Art, it had been “their song.”

“I'd have to say that's the highlight – learning to play songs that the residents request, and hearing why this music is special to them.”

“Why is music so powerful? You can hear three notes of a song and it can make you cry. Music is just powerful. It’s something we all connect with. Can you imagine our lives without it? I mean, how dreary. It gives so much to our lives. I’m just blessed to be able to do what I do and share it with people.”

Music runs in Sharon’s family. Her maternal grandparents both played the mandolin, and she has fond recollections of the duets they played together. Her mother – at what Sharon calls “a young 82” – still plays cello with the LaPorte Symphony Orchestra.

And at home, in addition to Sharon’s own playing, daughter Hayley sings, writes music, plays piano and plays guitar. Her two sons also play guitar, as does husband Jon during time off from his duties as the city’s mayor.                                                                                           

“We have a very noisy house,” Sharon concedes.

And if it ever gets too noisy, she knows she now has a home away from home at Pines Village.

“The friendships, the people I’ve met here,” she says, “they are just wonderful.”

We Celebrate Life is a collection of portraits, in words and photographs, of just some of the wonderful, extraordinary people who live, work and serve Pines Village Retirement Communities. View more >