There are two things I can tell you about myself.  I love music and I love Christmas (I also love “love”).  I love the way Christmas made me feel as a kid and I love the way we celebrate it today.  Celebrating the holiday season (whichever way you choose) is special. It’s a fun time for family and friends.  I truly feel it’s one of the only times of year we all genuinely feel for our brothers and sisters on this great planet, no matter race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.  Something happens.  There’s a magic in the air. It’s such nice, positive, loving, peaceful time of year.  It feels good.

Plus… you get GIFTS!  Hahaha!  Can’t forget about that!  Giving and receiving gifts make it that much more special.  Gift giving has evolved over the years.  I don’t know about you, but I feel like I don’t need a lot of things anymore.  Getting gifts throughout life (especially as a kid) was/is great.  But it’s just stuff.  I like to go for experiences now.  Giving them and receiving them.  The material thing you received as a gift will wear down and go away at some point - but experiences don’t.   You have them locked away in your memory until your last breath.  Think about that.  It’s pretty heavy.  Here’s a great story of a client who gave the gift of a song experience to her family at Christmas.  She wrote down words that came from her heart and soul (about them) and had it created in to a loving song.

I received a call one day from a very nice woman, who said she had seen an interview article in the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper about YouSongmaker.com with myself and former business partners. She found the idea of being able create a song from her own words (without knowing a thing about writing a song) fascinating.  She let me know that her family has gone through some rough times recently with the loss of a loved one.  She thought it would be a good way to remember the person, as well as let her family know that they matter so much to her and she loves them.  So, she ordered the song and we had what’s called a Song Coach session.  This is where I call you on the phone to help you with your words and put them in to song format with verses, choruses, and a bridge.  We basically become friends within that hour. I learn a lot from people when they talk about their love and their families.  It’s so insightful!  As we went through the process, she found that it was easy and we had a lot of fun.  When I presented the song to her she was very happy with it and was excited to play it for her family.  She did, and then she told me about it.  I don’t exactly remember if she told them about it ahead of time or not, but they sort of knew what was happening with her words.

She said when they listened to the song, everyone was emotional.  There were tears, but good tears.  Tears that say “I hear what you wrote and I feel it too, we love them.”  She said there was also the acknowledgement of family love.  Everyone was looking at each other quietly, smiling, and making eye contact… just listening and loving.  There’s a quote from her below that we use on our website YourSongmaker.com below.  She encapsulated what we do in a short paragraph.

I was actually inspired to sit down and write a song after reading the article in the Inquirer about your business. I loved the idea and thought how wonderful to take meaningful words, put them into the format of a song, and make it a gift for my family. As soon as I finished reading the article, I went to my computer and I let the words flow. What was on my mind at the time was that I was writing a song for my family. The words flowed easily because they were from my heart, and I literally had the song written in less than 15 minutes. I then emailed you to find out more details about how the process worked, and you helped me with all the musical details, and the song became a reality. You were excellent in answering my questions, and offering helpful suggestions for the music and the beat. We only changed one line and that was heartwarming to me, to know that my written thoughts were actually able to become a song. Thank you enormously for helping me in creating a lasting memory for me and my family. You certainly have made this fun for me! It was very exciting! I am so very pleased and excited. I love the song. Thank you so very much for all your help and talent. You have a great idea and I will be sure to let people know about you, your work, your wonderful energy, and how very helpful you have been.

This is what the holiday season is about.  It’s about letting the people you love know you love them!  LET THEM KNOW!  It’s also about remembering the people who have passed with respect and admiration.  Let the festivities begin! Cheers!

Listen to A Family Matters Christmas