and we will continue singing

This past Tuesday night my daughter Brianna woke me up at 3am.  She had just received a call from her very close friend Savannah letting her know that Savannah's boyfriend and Brianna's good friend Marco had died.  Marco was the young man who died in the boating accident, which has received a lot of news coverage this week.  He graduated this past June with Brianna and received a full scholarship to the University of the Fraser Valley.  He was an amazing musician and a fun-loving personality.  I had the joy of having Marco play with me this summer at the Mission Folk Festival.  I had asked him what he was going to wear for our gig and he asked me what he should wear.  I said - just be yourself.  So, he got excited and decided to wear his hair in a Mohawk.  Marco was a great person to be around, relaxed, funny and easy to talk to - no matter what age you were.

As many of you know, the song Love Shines played a powerful role when my nephew Christian died just over one year ago.  I was about to record Love Shines as a single when Chris died.  I didn't know how I could record this song - how could I sing about love shining?  So, I cancelled the recording.  But then I thought about Chris and his life and how he would have been so mad at me for cancelling doing something that I loved.  And I looked into the face of my brother and his wife - and I realized I did see love shining - in them.  And so I recorded that song and gave it all I had.  And then I sang it for the 1500 people that came to Chris's funeral.

Marco did not know any of this to my knowledge.  But Love Shines was one of the songs I had sent him to practice for our set at the Mission Folk Festival.  On the night that he died, his mom went to his laptop and opened it up.  What was on the screen was the lyrics/chord chart for Love Shines.  It was the last thing that Marco looked at on his computer and what his mom found in that horrible moment.
I am overwhelmed how this song came to this family in the middle of such utter agony.  Marco's memorial will be a concert at Heritage Park next Sunday at 2pm.  There are many musicians coming to honour Marco and his memory.  Marco's mom has asked me to sing Love Shines.
Love does shine in our deepest darkness.
Love shines in moments we cannot comprehend.
Love shines beyond our agony.
Love shines.
Marco - I will sing for you.
Chris - I will sing for you.