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.

This is a song that you probably know, hidden stealthily inside a song that you've never heard before. And in both cases, they are songs about that unbridled, expansive feeling of being utterly transported (by LOVE!)
Jim came to me to create a song for Nancy, with whom he was, plain to see, over the moon in love. Their connection was new, and he was positively jubilant! I have known him for a good while now, and I had never seen him like this! It was a wonderful thing to behold, I gotta tell ya! He was practically skipping.

WANTING TO SAY WHAT YOU CAN'T SAY
Jim told me how his feelings for Nancy grew so fast, he could barely keep up with them. Early in the 

I think the world of Bob Faw! He is an inspiring motivational speaker, a vibrant author, a loving partner to the lovely Zsuzsi and, as of a few weeks ago, a loving HUSBAND to her as well. On January 6th, after many years of copacetic togetherness, Bob and Zsuzsi tied the knot in an intimate, tropical, romantic setting, to the tune of "Coming Home," the song Bob surprised her with in the very moment that they were becoming husband and wife!

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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: What Does it Mean to say YES on All Levels?

This song makes me so happy! It's all about what it means to step into the sweeping, coincidence-filled energy that is all around us and available to us in the moment we say YES to the depths of our own journey.

Inspired in large part by Nancy Sporborg, who commissioned the song, "The Gracewave" this summer, my family said YES, YES, YES!! to a trip all across this magnificent country of ours (that's me and my sons Ben and Sam at the Grand Canyon, with photo credits to my husband Jim.)

To learn about Nancy--who was brave and brilliant enough to commission a song like this--and her journey, and her message, and her incredible book, "IT'S NOT ABOUT THE HIKE," to which this song is a companion piece, read on....

 My favorite thing about this song is that it grew out of a couple making it through a serious TIGHT SQUEEZE and coming out so much stronger on the other side--astonished with their own strength, more deeply connected, and laughing that great, fabulous laugh of relief and joy you feel when you somehow land, together, in the right place.

Who do YOU become when the going gets tough? What does it mean, in those most challenging moments, to risk, to dare, to trust your gut, and, importantly, to truly move closer to the one beside you, rather than to pull away? This song explores what's on the other side, in life, when what you do together in the face of a tough challenge on the ground, is to LEARN TO FLY...

TOPIC: Navigating Through Pain into Self-Discovery

There is magic all OVER the story of this song.

When Rose approached me at the end of a yoga class where I had been playing interpretive guitar, neither of us could have imagined the journey we were about to take, together and separately, in the bringing to life of this song. Rose says, "It feels so good to FEEL again," with an acknowledgement that this song helped that to happen in her life. There have been 4 (!!) magical things that have occurred already (!!) regarding this song and its short life. And probably more to come, we if keep our eyes open, now that it is "out there" and ready to meet the world...

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