This is a song from a son in California, and his extended family, to a father with ALS disease in East Germany.

There are three sections of the song, representing three different phases:

Section 1 = A simple piano tune arose in son Torsten's mind, and stayed with him as he thought about his father, far across the sea, struggling with ALS

Section 2 = A short movement to represent the pain of separation and great loss

Section 3 = A weaving together of all of the pieces of a life, family members, love, old memories understood in new ways, and a gathering of love and gratitude for a beloved father. If you listen carefully you'll hear the trumpet--Torsten's father's instrument, interwoven with some electric guitar, a more youthful sound--the sounds of the father and the son. A song to lift everyone up and prepare for whatever is next in the great journey of life.

Two months ago, my dad died. The experience of losing him was slow and gradual, because he had Alzheimer's Disease. It was also quick, because the difference between near-death and actual death turns out to be pretty sudden and profound. But above all, my dad's death felt magical to me, because loving my dad was always a magical experience, from the time I was tiny and he was creating birthday magic shows, Halloween haunted houses, treasure hunts to the town dump and movies starring us kids, until the very late stages of his life with this challenging disease when he was asking me deep and caring questions about my view of the world. His death felt magical because it ended with singing. My mom, sister, brother and I all held hands around his bedside and sang "Dona Nobes Pacem" ("Bring Us Peace") - a favorite round in my family - in his final hours. What follows is one song about my dad and mom, in honor of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, and two others to round out the story of my dad and my family's journey with Alzheimer's.

Dear Moms, everywhere, all across the planet, 

Old and young, tired and refreshed, brave and scared.

We are your children.
We are the people you labored to bring here,
The ones who needed you desperately, at times,
And the ones who needed to push out beyond you, at other times. 

This song is for all of you. Enjoy!

Read on to learn the Story Behind the Song...

TOPIC: An "Alzheimer's Waltz" for Love and Life

Rita lost her husband and long-time life-partner (and dance-partner) Dick, this past January. To commemorate his life and celebrate their relationship, she came up with a truly original idea: Why not commission a song that could be choreographed, so that she could dance to it, at his memorial service, as a way of celebrating his life and honoring their life-long love of dancing!

I thought this was an incredibly brave undertaking on her part. I listened carefully as she told me all about

TOPIC: A Father Dies of Lou Gehrig's Disease and Leaves Behind a Song for his Daughter

This is a song about what it means to really and truly turn yourself over to what you want: to DIVE IN. I got to share it on a TV show about "Using Your Gifts" recently, and here is a little more to the story behind the song. While I was working on this song I found myself asking myself, "Are there areas where I am holding myself back? Are there ways in which I identify something I really want to come to pass, and then hover around the edges of letting it become so? And, maybe more importatly, when I look back over the course of my life at times when I really HAVE let myself DIVE IN, have I been glad I took the plunge? My answer to this last question was a strong, powerful, life-affirming YES!