Sure, most of us
enjoy reading a children’s book aloud to a child. You get to do the funny voices, you have an
appreciative audience, and the books are usually sweet and fun. But most of us DO NOT commit to reading to
children as much as the lovely Rick Wasserman does. Here is his story:
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| Rick in the studio |
Rick is an actor in
Los Angeles. He does a lot of voice-over
work. In fact, I would bet you have
heard his voice, you just didn’t know who it was. Take a listen:
Short promo - listen until the end - that is RICK!
Yup, Rick is a big
deal. (My words, not his. But he IS a big deal!) He is the 10 year “signature voice” of AMC
Network. Remember the “Better Call Saul” commercials telling you about the next
episode?? Or how about “The Walking Dead”?? Yup, those were Rick. He also does voice-over work for many other
networks, cartoons, animation, commercials, video games, documentaries, and
movie trailers. So see, a BIG DEAL. J (Note: all you “Better Call Saul” junkies out there,
do NOT spoil it for me! We are in the
middle of season one.)
And not only is he
busy PROFESSIONALLY, he also has a beautiful wife and two adorable sons. He loves magic and cooking. I tell you this to explain: Rick has a lot of stuff to do, he is a busy
person! It is not like he is just
sitting by the swimming pool drinking margaritas… And yet…
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| Rick and his awesome family |
For the last four
years Rick has volunteered his time to go to UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital
in Los Angeles and read books to patients.
Once a month. For FOUR
YEARS. He started by working with a
group of professional voice-over artists called PRIMETIME
VOICES FOR CHILDREN, led by popular VO artist Joe Cipriano (who Rick calls a “fine
human being”). Here is how Rick tells the story of his introduction to reading
at the hospital:
“The idea was that we’d make a recording of us voicing THE
NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, each artist taking a couple of sentences. The sales of
the recording would be gifted to the Child Life Center at UCLA's Mattel
Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. As a special bonus, we were scheduled
to perform the story, live, at the hospital for the children on an early
December afternoon. So I went along with the boisterous group a few days
before the holidays and we performed and it was very well received.
During that first visit, I noticed that three of the five children I read
to didn’t celebrate Christmas. A few didn’t speak English. Some didn’t want to
be read to, rather, they just wanted some company. I felt compelled to come
back and read to the children again, but with the stories I read to my own
kids: short, fun, and provocative. I asked the head nurse if I could come
back by myself with this new plan. I was allowed to return the next month. And
the next. Now I am going on my fourth year. I never miss a monthly visit.”
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| Voice-Over Artists entertaining at the hospital |
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| Rick and team in action |
Isn’t that amazing? Every single month he gives of his time, his
voice, and his heart. He usually goes
alone, but every Christmas the PRIMETIME VOICES group visits and dresses up,
reading all sorts of holiday and non-holiday books (and singing carols J ). I would say that
annual visit by those artists is a holiday mitzvah not to be missed! What a way to give back to their community.
Heck, I am not a patient and he doesn’t sit and read books to me, but every
once in a while I see a photo like this of his on Facebook and it makes me
smile so big:
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| Great selection of books, eh? It would be hard to choose which one I wanted to hear! |
I asked Rick about
the origins of his visits, which he had never done anything like before, and
how the volunteering makes him feel. He explained
it so well: “After I’d been performing
voice-overs for about a decade, a close friend asked me if that’s ALL I wanted
to do. He said it seemed to him that while VO served me and my family, it
didn’t really serve humanity. I am still not sure how I feel about that remark,
but it did start me thinking: how can I serve humanity besides throwing money
at charities. The first time I read for the children, I was focused on
performing and doing a good job; I probably did that on purpose so I didn’t
have to feel all the emotions one might feel surrounded by what the nurses have
called “catastrophically ill” patients and their worried and exhausted
families. The next time I read to them, I forced myself to connect and open up.
It was a very hard visit. I felt like crying and leaving. Each time I visit, I
challenge myself to stay open, to stay available…and play. Just play. I try and
“read” each room I visit and let the patient dictate how they want to interact.
Sometimes I read a story or two. Sometimes we just talk or play a game. I
am pretty good with magic and mentalism, so we often enjoy some fun tricks as
well. For better or for worse, I see a lot of the same children during my
visits and we both look forward to meeting up again. Many children have passed;
I won’t ever get used to that and I don’t want to. I love them.”
Oh I can imagine how excited those “repeat customers” are
when they see Rick walk into their room!!
I bet their eyes light up and they are thrilled to have a REAL VISITOR,
not someone who is going to take blood or make them do physical therapy. Sure, those medical treatments are very, very
important, but so is feeling like a kid
and hearing a story, or watching a magic trick!
I would bet money that those kids are healthier AFTER Rick’s visit than
they were before he walked in.
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| A thank you card from a kid - super sweet. |
I asked Rick
how he thinks the kids and their families feel when he visits here is how
he described it: “I think the kids get a kick out of my
visits. For some, it’s a distraction from their illness and monotony of their
daily lives, often being confined to a bed. Many patients equate an adult
stranger with someone who is going to poke at their stitches, give them shots,
or bring them bad news; so I think I help demonstrate that some adults wanna
just have a good time with them…with no pain, anxiety, or fear. Some don’t have
family with them, so I can provide them with the comfort of a familiar face. I
think they mostly see me as a big kid, a playmate. Parents and siblings are
grateful for my visits too. I regularly read to the kids who are unconscious
which their families find comforting.”
Click here to hear some of Rick reading "The Frog and the Ox" - it is lovely!
My partner David is a clown with the
Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit at Children’s National Medical Center in
Washington DC. It is a fantastic program
that sends clowns into Children’s Hospitals across the country. I am a firm believer that programs like Clown
Doctors, reading to kids, music in hospitals, etc. help the patients and their
families. Heck, I even think it helps
the STAFF by giving them a bit of a distraction and something fun to focus on
for a moment. And I am certain that the
families of those unconscious patients that Rick reads to are so grateful to
have him pay attention to their child, to treat them as normal.
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| How could the sight of this sweet man in your hospital room with this book NOT make you feel better?? |
Rick told me he can’t
see himself not reading to the kids. To him,
it is not difficult and is something he loves.
He explained, “If it provides the kids just a few
moments when they are not thinking about being sick in a hospital, then it is
well worth it. I like me better when I am with the children. I encourage others
to read to children. Kids need the interaction. A TV or phone or tablet is NOT
the same. I also never call the kids “soldiers” or “angels” or “special” and I
don’t tell them how brave they are: they are tired of hearing that stuff. They
just wanna be treated like other kids. That’s how I try and make them feel.”
To close this out, I must use Rick’s
words, for they are much more poignant than anything I could write about his
experience, “It is not emotionally easy…but it shouldn’t be. I used to avoid
sad music, movies, stories and the like because I don’t like feeling sad. But I
have realized it is part of the emotional spectrum. I NEED to feel sad
sometimes. Some things are sad. And as a bonus, feeling the sad makes
feeling the happy that much sweeter. When a patient’s health improves, my heart
swells. I once visited a child I’d read to many,many times. When I
finished reading a story, her mother nudged her and asked her to tell me her
news. She smiled with a big cheeky grin and said, “I got my new heart.” I was
honored to be there for that moment.”
Rick, it is an honor to dub you a
Kindness Activist. Thank you for
reminding us that we need to experience all stops along the emotional
spectrum. Thank you for using your
talent, your voice, and your heart to bring joy and kindness to the children and
their families. You said that the head
of PRIMETIME VOICES FOR CHILDREN was a “fine human being”, and I would have to
say, sir, that that label definitely applies to YOU as well.
Are you inspired by Rick's kindness? Hopefully hearing about his big heart (and big voice) give you ideas about going into YOUR community and BEING KIND! Make sure to "like" Kindness Activist on Facebook or follow us on Twitter (@KindActivist) so you can be inspired by more Kindness Activists!
Resources:
PRIMETIME VOICES FOR CHILDREN
reading “The Night Before Christmas”: click here
Rick Wasserman website for Bookable
VO (study with the best!): click here
Rick Wasserman on Wikipedia (ok, I
fan girled out a bit while writing this one…): click here
