My mom, Ariane, died on September 21 after a 10 year battle with cancer. This song has been part of my process of saying goodbye. I still reach for my phone to call or text her from time to time, forgetting that she's gone. It's been a slow process of letting go, and I gather I'm at the beginning stages of it all.

As I wrote this song, I had a picture of mom and my sister Sharon in view. The two of them were in our garden in Nebraska in the summer of 1993 or 1994 - those colors, temperatures and memories worked their way into every fiber of this music...a time before difficulty, disease and loss. These years were the most simple in my life, and I wanted to imprint them in a lasting way.

The very last thing mom said to me before she died was "look for my smile." I'm still not sure what she meant, but I wanted the photo I kept near me to be the album cover because of the light in her eyes.

These melodies are for you, mom - and for your spirit living on in Sharon. I miss you so much. I wish you could have heard this.

And Sharon, I am immensely grateful that you're my sister. I'm proud of your courage, compassion and resilience. You carry her elegance, grace and power so well...