Silly Old Bear

I have never been a huge fan of Reggae music. To be honest, though, I’ve never really given it much of a chance.

I was eating lunch with my good friend Zach yesterday, and the conversation turned to music. Zach is a big fan of Reggae music, and Bob Marley is his favorite artist in the genre. So I asked Zach what his favorite song is, and he quickly replied, “Three Little Birds”. I told Zach I was going to go home and find that song on the Internet and listen to it.

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About four months after Ashley died, Susan and Justin and I took a trip from our home in Texas to visit some friends in Tennessee and then spend a few days in the Great Smoky Mountains. Driving late at night, somewhere between Memphis and Nashville, the idea for a song began growing in my head. It was a tribute to the remarkable life of my Ashley, her profound impact on our lives as her family, and the deep emptiness left in our hearts by her death. But even amidst the palpable sadness of our grief, I found my thoughts, and the emerging song, focusing on the hope that is inherent in my faith — the promise that, one day, we will see her and hold her once again.

The more we drove, the more the song grew and began to organize itself into verses and a chorus. I asked Susan to find some paper and a pen and start writing down the words so that I wouldn’t forget them. I drove and Susan wrote, and by the time we reached Nashville, “Until Then” was a song.

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A few months after my daughter Ashley died, I called a friend and asked him to meet me for lunch. Andy Moya is one of those creative types who seems to be good at everything he does. He is a graphics artist/designer by trade, and a very talented musician by avocation. I was captivated by his CD of Christmas favorites played on piano.

Andy is also just an all-around great guy. I came to know him through a mutual friend, and have always enjoyed any opportunity to visit with him. He is deeply spiritual and loves the Lord with all his heart. I have a great respect for him in that regard.

I invited Andy to lunch because I had a favor to ask of him. I wanted to have a beautiful instrumental song written especially in Ashley’s memory. Knowing Andy’s creativity, musicianship, and heart, I felt like he would be the perfect person for such an undertaking, if he was interested.

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Israel Kamakawiwo’ole is a legend. For many people around the world, he is the voice of Hawai’i. A native Hawaiian, he started playing the ‘ukulele as a boy. In 1976 he formed a band called “Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau” with his older brother Skippy and three other native musicians. Even after Skippy died of a heart attack in 1982, Iz (as he was known to his friends and fans) stayed with the Makaha Sons until 1993.

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One of my favorite songs ever is “Dream Big” by Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband. In fact, it starts off at the top of my Favorite Songs list, and will probably stay in the Number 1 spot.

First of all, “Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband” has got to be the coolest name ever for a band!

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I love music. Always have. I started collecting records when I was in junior high school — back before the days of CD’s. By the time I graduated from high school, I had amassed a collection of over 300 LP’s. I still have all of them stored away in a cabinet in our “junk room”, and have even added to the collection through the years thanks to garage sales and thrift stores.

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