It was the day after Thanksgiving. We were driving eastbound on PA turnpike: the sun was setting in the cloudless sky, the road clear, the kids happy in the back and my husband next to me. Another month of beautiful music was ahead of us. I was happy and grateful.
I was looking forward to see our friends in Pennsylvania: Sally and Ellen; Melanie, Alex and Daniel Fedoryka; David, Karen and Ashley; Zoltan, Tim and Alex; Mark and Sue.
I kept in touch with them. I texted Sue every few weeks. A quick prayer, a virtual hug, smilie face, <3, anything, just to let her know she was always on my mind and in my heart. Ever since I met her during Advent Tour a few years ago, she had been a source of inspiration to me. I drew strength from her faith and her ability to live in the present so joyfully, celebrating life, family and love. Even the pain from her frightening illness (pancreatic cancer) didn’t take away the hope and the smile from her face. Every time I saw her at a concert, she was filled with hope and life. Sue and Mark worked relentlessly and passionately on getting people to attend our concerts even when they had so much on their plate… I was humbled, honored, deeply grateful and inspired to give more.
Visiting Sue at St. Mary's on Nov 26, 2011
I saw Sue just days before she passed on… I held her hand, kissed her cheek, I sang her a song, and soaked up the precious moments of her beautiful smile. The healing she received wasn’t, unfortunately physical (despite all of us who believed that miracles still happen) – but it was palpable… Sue’s healing spread to all of us who experienced her light, her hope, her faith. For me personally, I felt being healed of fear. By being in my life, Sue was like a constant reminder of the importance of focusing on the Present – as in the ‘present moment’ – the most precious present we got - and enough of a reason for a big smile and a grateful heart.
Learning to let go of the past regrets, ‘should-haves’ and ‘wish-I-did’s’ I prayed for the ‘now’ moment in which I would gift Sue’s song to her, her family, friends and those who will randomly accept it.
It wasn’t a surprise when it came as a ‘present’. A Christmas present. Properly wrapped and laid under the tree, and at the same time untouchable and invisible. My husband Matthew organized a KickStarter project and invited our friends and fans to gift more music.
When kids went back to school after their Christmas break, I got to work and produced two songs, two gifts: “Till We Meet Again” (my recording of it was inspired by a beautiful love story featured in the video) and “Lay Your Hands”.
Here is the quick video with the story behind the song “Lay Your Hands”. I wanted to make the entire video a collage of thoughts and photos of Sue, her beautiful smile and her family but decided to just like Sue’s healing, send it out into the world and letting it gift and touch as lead by God’s grace – one heart, one moment at the time.