Her name is Yoko Sen.  As she walked onto the stage, you didn’t get the sense of a compelling presence.  She was small, slight of frame with a lilting voice that could easily lull you to sleep with its sing-song quality.  But somehow, as she began to speak, she filled the space, her words echoing in the vastness of the room.

She is an ambient musician, one whose music creates a mood or an atmosphere without necessarily creating a recognizable melody.  So when she fell ill and was forced to spend a good bit of time in hospitals, the noise surrounding her was extremely disconcerting.  The crackle of the paging systems, the incessant ringing of the phones, alarms screaming for attention, the beeping of the monitors, the hiss of the blood pressure cuff as it inflated and then released . . . every single grating sound was amplified to her ears—ears  that were trained to create peace and universal harmony in her music.

As she began to heal and then to resume her life, she took on a new challenge—to change what hospital patients heard as they lay captive in their beds.  But there were obstacles . . . so many obstacles . . . not the least of which were the medical professionals.  As she sat in a room filled with doctors, trying to make them understand why this was so important, she asked one, very simple question.

“What is the last sound you want to hear before you die?”

In stunned silence they considered her question.  And then they realized the importance of her mission.

Moving to one side of the stage, she fell silent, and the soothing sound of a beating heart began to gently fill the room.  One by one, the answers came . . . the sound of the ocean . . . music . . . the whisper of the wind through the trees . . . birds singing . . . a child’s laughter . . . the voice of my husband . . . my wife . . . my children . . . my mother . . .  Each person she asked had quietly considered their own last moment and answered her question from deep within.  As the answers faded the rhythmic beating of the heart continued.

And then it stopped.

The silence in the room was deafening, overwhelming every thought, save one.  What would I want to hear?  You could feel everyone there considering the question and you could see from the tears being shed that many knew their answer.

Her mission is one of peace for those who are struggling to heal or are facing their final moments on this earth.  And the question she used to make the world understand is one that can touch us all.

What is the last sound you want to hear before you die?

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