"Wildflower" Interesting note about the song I referred to in the post below. I got a reply from the man who wrote the words to the song:
Hello Mark, and blessings to you and your dear wife from Jerusalem.
Well, when I read your message about Wildflower, as forwarded to me by Valley, I was moved to tears - and I do mean literally. That I could have played a role in such a beautiful story as the love you describe with your wife - well, I am more than moved: I am truly honored. Over the years since I was first inspired to write those lyrics (and Doug Edwards subsequently added his beautiful, almost haunting music), I occasionally get word of how the song has been instrumental in changing the lives of a number of people. In one such case it saved the life of a teenaged girl who first heard the song as she was walking into the ocean to drown herself. I don't know if you read about that or not, but if you would like to, you can see it at: http://www.olografix.org/krees/dfnet2/?p=93.
A bit of an update on me, personally, if I may be so bold: I retired in 2000 after a 35-year police career in Victoria, Canada, and then spent the next 6 1/2 years working an alcohol/drug addictions ministry through a church with which I was involved in Victoria. Then 16 months ago I was blessed enough to have the Lord lead me to Israel where I have been volunteering with a ministry called Jaffa Gate Ministries (JGM), which includes feeding at least some of the less fortunate people of Jerusalem. (See: http://www.jaffagateministries.com/kitchen.htm ). It is a wonderful ministry that even leaves me enough time to be working on a book I am writing about the Biblical perspective on addiction, and the freedom from that particular bondage that is attainable.
Anyway, I won't take up any more of your time, Mark. I just wanted to express to you my sincerest gratitude for your beautiful email. You have no idea how wonderful it was for me to read such a wonderful story as you documented it in your message, and I am honored just to make your acquaintance via email. Also, please give my kindest regards to your dear wife and convey to her how humbled I am to have contributed in some manner, from so far away, to the effort you both have put into the last few decades of your lives together. Again, I am honored. I pray that God will bless you both in every aspect of your lives together - including the lives of your children and grandchildren.
"Finally ... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things ... And the God of peace will be with you."
(As much as I would like to have written those uplifting words, they were written by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8).
Blessings to you again...
Dave Richardson.
8 comments:
Sounds like a decent guy. How did you locate him?
So why do we not know this story he mentions regarding the song, Pappy?
I thought I had posted it on the earlier thread.
I located him through the woman that administers the official website for Wildflower. Interesting that a song has its own website.
Here it is:
A local woman sent me a letter (addressed to me at the police station), saying that when she was a girl of about 17-18, her life had become more than she could bear and she decided to end it all. She was at a local beach and was waiting for sun to do down and for the people to leave the beach so she could commit suicide by drowning herself. When it got dark, she started walking into the water. She had left her purse and belongings on a blanket in the sand, along with her transistor radio. When she got up to her shoulders in the ocean, she heard from her radio behind her, for the first time in her life, "She's faced the hardest times you could imagine..." She stopped in the water and listened to the entire song, and when it was over she turned around and walked out of the water. At the time that she wrote me the letter to thank me for the song which saved her life, she had grown and was happily married, a mother of either 2 or 3 small children (I forget the number). When I consider the money the song has made, I would have gladly traded every cent of my share for that one letter. Nothing has mattered to me as much as that letter and others like it, where the song has changed so many lives for the better. This is why I really do believe that God, in Whom I truly believe and for Whom I now live every day of my life, inspired me to write that song.
Thanks for posting his letter. Seems like a very interesting, kind man.
No, I mean yours and Mom's story regarding this song?
Wildflower was one of the Top 10 popular songs the week we got married - #3, I think, and the lyrics and music are one of the such that it has been one of my all-time favorites, and, as I said previously, probably the only song I will not be able to listen to, should I survive Pam.
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