It occurs to me, when I watch the news, that the tidal wave that killed more than 200,000 people around Indonesia in 2004--well that could have been one of us who got swept away. And some survived--the baby floating on a mattress, the girl who grabbed a tree. Why them? Why not us? Or, when it happens to us, whatever that is, why us? My point is that we are all subject to the whims of nature, or luck, or God. So this song is one of compassion to try to get us to see another's point of view. Compassion for each other--for the immigrant, for the hungry. Indeed, it could have been one of us, or our parents or grandparents, trying to survive. 

I wrote this song in 2024 after Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the East Coast, especially North Carolina. People were swept to sea. They drowned in the river. They were hit by falling trees. Emerson Eads, PhD, the Director of Choral Activities at Minot State University (North Dakota) selected this song and added his magic touch and his concert choir to the song. Thank you, Emerson! (Emerson is now at SIU at Carbondale, IL. 

The song is posted in “music videos”