Press Reviews MESSINGER-INQUIRER ARTICLE March 31,1998 'One of God's Miracles' Maybe there wouldn't be anything remarkable about the way Joel Farmer plays the piano and keyboard, except the fact that his hearing is so poor, he wears hearing aids in both ears. And the fact that he is legally blind. And the fact that he has been disfigured from birth and has only one true finger on each hand. But as remarkable as his talent is, the really incredible thing about Joel Farmer is his attitude. "Sometimes I think, 'I have this problem and I have this problem,' but then I see people with worse problems," Joel says. "There are people here in wheelchairs. You just try to make the best of things." At 52, Joel says he is "the baby of the group" at the Carmel Home. He moved there from Bowling Green in December and says he loves his new home. "I lived out in the boondocks (in Bowling Green) and it was kind of hard to get around," Joel remembers. "I lived by myself and it was kind of lonesome. I visited a friend at the Carmel Home; this was the nicest place I'd ever been in." He likes Owensboro because of GRITS bus service, which provides transportation to Wellington Parc and other nursing homes where Joel plays piano for the residents. "I've always been a person that likes to go places. But they keep me so busy here, I don't have time to go anywhere!" Joel laughs. "They pester me to death to play the piano! They have four pianos here; I'll play on one all day and then go down the hall and someone will say, 'Why don't you play for me? I haven't heard you play today,' and I've been playing all day!" But Joel is obviously delighted to provide so much joy for his friends and they are thrilled with his generosity in sharing his gifts. Carmel Home resident Esther Smith speaks for many when she describes Joel. "There's one of God's miracles, right there," Smith says. "The way he was born, and the personality he has, it has to be of God." Smith claps her hands together as she talks about what Joel's musical gifts mean to the residents. "Well, lawsamercy, you can see everybody cheer up! He can come in the room and start playing and It's not five minutes before that room is full. Not only that, they're dancing!" "He gets them out of their wheelchairs and gets em dancing!" agrees Kathy Shaver, social services director at the Carmel Home. "He's been really happy here and he's brought so much joy." Joel jokes about living at the Carmel Home, which is operated by Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. "I was a Methodist, a preacher's kid," Joel says. "Then I played piano for a black church and so I was a black Baptist. When I moved here, my brother asked me if I was going to be a Catholic. I told him I don't think I'm going to go that far; seems like their services last awful long!" Joel is matter-of-fact about his condition. "Of course sometimes I run into problems," he says. "But I just say, 'Hey, we have to solve these problems.' " He pays little attention to his condition, which, in his case, can hardly be called a handicap, and has only one regret. "The only thing I ever wished was that I could have had a job and not depend on the government and Social Security and SSI and all that other good stuff. I've always wanted to be independent." When he was about 5 years old,Joel underwent surgery to separate the index finger on each hand from their webbed formation. "I said, 'I want to play piano and type on a typewriter,' " Joel remembers. Now he does both; he has a Braille typewriter in his room. Doctors later asked if he wanted additional surgery to try to separate other fingers, but Joel told them, "I can play piano pretty good; you might mess it up." He learned to play by listening to his older brother and sister, who both took piano lessons. "I said, 'Well, I can do that,' and my mother kind of helped me. It's just a God-given talent," Joel says. He plays by ear. "I can't see well enough to read music." Joel shrugs off any suggestion that he is exceptional for his achievements. "I guess it's just up to the person," he explains. " some people -normal people- can just sit around and do anything." Joel offers to play a few tunes. He likes the old songs, such as "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," which also happen to be favorites of most of his Carmel Home friends. Joel doesn't have a favorite song. "Every time I think I have one, I find another one I like," he says. The height of Joel's electric keyboard has been adjusted to accommodate his short arms. The room is dark, but that doesn't bother Joel. His fingertips search out the right buttons, and background music sets the beat. Joel places his hands on the keyboard and begins to play; "Rocky Top," "Somewhere My Love," "You Don't Know Me." As the melody fills the room, Joel tilts his head back and smiles. His blue eyes shine in the sunlight streaming through a window, and his soft red hair-with a mischievously stubborn curl on top- glows. "Music just does something for people," Joel says. "I like to entertain people. I hope I can make them happy."

Location Owensboro, KY - USA

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