Katharina Busch – All Eyes On You
(To German version) I feel privileged having a friend who trusts me enough to take me with her to the hospital’s neonatal unit to visit her baby boy weighing just 510 grams. There is a place by his incubator where she and her partner sit and warm his little body, sing for him and fight for his life day by day for hours over many months.
Hayao was born in the 26th week of pregnancy after his mom´s water broke during week 18. He stayed at the neonatal unit for four months and finally was able to go home, but with an oxygen tank.
My visit to the neonatal unit
We walk down the corridor of the children’s hospital and I feel anxious and insecure, not knowing what to expect. I am not just going to the hospital to visit someone with a broken leg. Never before had I been so close to the brink between life and death as on this particular day. Never before had I experienced the uncertainty of life so close-up.
We arrive at the entrance of the neonatal ward and step into another world. In here, everything is different. Nothing is the same as it is on the other side of these walls – not even the air. It is air enriched with the greatest love you can imagine, mixed with the greatest possible portion of fear. But also with gratitude and even happiness.
It feels like stepping onto a cloud. Albeit a cloud floating alarmingly close to heaven. In contrast to the almost spiritual place, countless machines beep , bright artificial lighting glares, as do the white lab-coats of the doctors, and there is the smell of sanitizers. A myriad of tubes connect machines to incubators.
Hayaos Island
Hayao, my friend’s baby boy is not the only child in here. Before we reach his glassy crib, we pass five more little islands on which parents sit beside their tiny, but „great“ treasures. Now, standing on Hayaos Island, we look at this incredible miracle. I’m allowed to caress his little feet.
Everything is there – though very, very tiny. His strong, fast heartbeat shakes his whole body. You can see his tender blue veins through his thin, fine skin. He is covered in tubes, including one in his nose, because his lungs are not developed enough and they need support. We talk to him and sing him a song.
A touching experience becomes a song
On my way back home, my only wish is to see him again. Deeply touched by this experience, I take my guitar and write a song for Hayao and his parents when back home. Sometimes songwriting can be very challenging for me.
Often I have a melody but I have a hard time finding the right words. It is different with «All Eyes On You». The lyrics came very naturally and quickly as if they should be spoken out, as if someone else sent them. In this way, songwriting feels authentic to me.
I feel what kind of gift has been given to me, making it possible for me to express myself and to cope with things. Hayao´s mum is also a singer/songwriter who goes by the by name „Moira“. By writing the bridge, she gave the song it’s final touch.
I am dedicating my song to Hayao‘s strong parents and to their happy and lively little prince. He has developed wonderfully and is five years old by now and goes to kindergarten. I would like very much for this song to carry Hayao´s story to other parents, giving them strength and hope.
«All Eyes On You» listen here
Follow Katharina Busch: www.katharinabusch.com
Follow Moira: www.moiramusic.ch
Hinterlasse einen Kommentar