The Shoebox: The story behind the lyric

Sometimes someone comes along who changes
our outlook on life and causes us to explore
certain things we wouldn't have ordinarily
explored. A child named Meghan introduced me to a
world where people help one another out of love. Her life, though extremely short, has added so much to mine.
When you are finished with this story, please view:

The Shoebox Poem/ Song Lyric  (E) This lyric is to remind parents everywhere to count their blessings #1078861 by Holland Kat

The Shoebox: The story behind the song

         I called and sang into his answering machine just as he had told me to do. I felt extremely awkward, mostly because I can’t sing, but I was following something I believed in, so I carried on. “He” was a man I knew only as KJack on my Yahoo! songwriting site, The Loose Muse. I had written some lyrics to a song I called “The Shoebox” that I wanted to dedicate to the family of a little girl from Florida named Meghan Marie Mack. Through her Caringbridge website (www.caringbridge.com) I had just found out that this beautiful 2-year old child had lost her battle with leukemia. I had followed Meghan’s progress on this site for several months and was devastated by her passing. I still remember staring at my computer that Friday afternoon with tears rolling down my cheeks. My then four-year old daughter, Holly, asked me why I was crying. I picked her up and hugged her as though I had taken every second of her life for granted. In many ways, thanks to Meghan, I knew I had. I started writing The Shoebox that night.
         I met Meghan from another child’s Caringbridge page. His name was Shane Jones, the 13-year old son of my friends Shawn and Patty Jones. Shane was from my home town at the time, Ironton, Ohio. Leukemia had taken his life just three months earlier. He had become the hero I had needed all my life…a true fighter and inspiration that would never let me down. His spirit ignited our community and created a legacy that still lives on to this day. You are witnessing a part of it right now. It is because of him that this story even happened.
         Since I had no musical talent whatsoever, I pleaded with the members of The Loose Muse to help me turn these words I’d written into a beautiful song. I wanted Meghan’s family to know how much this child, who I only knew through the internet, had affected my life. I wanted them to see that strangers cared about their baby. My idea for this song came from an email, but the inspiration came from wanting parents with healthy children to count their blessings.
         KJack, who is from Washington, D.C., listened to my crooning and turned my words into a song. I’ll never forget how it felt to have a complete stranger send me a CD with a song he’d made from the lyrics I wrote. I was awestruck. Later, another member of the group, Alan Hamilton, took KJack’s acoustic version of the song to his recording studio. A man of God, Alan usually focused on faith based music when he recorded songs for his Breath of Life music label, based in Washington State. Once he became involved in Meghan’s story I believe that Alan realized something that we all sometimes overlook; the Lord is worshipped when we give of ourselves to help others. And for the next few weeks, that’s exactly what he did. He made a song that is truly beautiful.
         The Shoebox found airtime on a Christian radio station in Missouri named White Dove, and in Meghan’s honor in Florida at a Candle Lighters event, but soon fell into obscurity. Since we had no connections to the “in crowd” in the music industry, I felt that this song had served its purpose and would soon be forgotten. Alan, however, had different plans. His latest CD, Like Water, not only includes The Shoebox, but also a story on the jacket that I’d written many months before about how the song came to life. It is currently available on www.cdbaby.com.
         Our goal with this song is to raise funds for a charity in Meghan’s name. We gave the copyright to the song to Meghan’s parents, Carol and Tommy, for this purpose. Any money gained from this song goes entirely to them.
         What isn’t listed on the CD jacket is the way a bunch of strangers on a writing site pitched in to help get the lyric just right and eventually turn it into a song. Once they heard Meghan’s story, at least seven different writers in our group added insight to the lyric. A few people in my former hometown of Ironton also made helpful suggestions. This song was a total group effort made mostly by people who have never met one another for the purpose of helping a family none of us know. We all had two things in common, though. We were smitten by their daughter and we wanted her memory to shine on parents everywhere as a reminder of how fleeting life can be.
         It’s been three years since The Shoebox was first posted on The Loose Muse and about the same amount of time since I sang my version into a stranger’s answering machine. It’s also been three years since Meghan earned her angel wings in Heaven. My dream is that this song will someday make a difference to her family and countless other families as well. It has made a difference to me just knowing that there really are people out there who will give of themselves expecting nothing in return.
         I’m so glad I sang into that answering machine.

Thank you, Shane. I’ve learned to care for others because of you.
Thank you, Shawn and Patty Jones. Your son is my hero!
Thank you, Loose Musers. You know who you are.
Thank you, Carol and Tommy Mack. Your daughter will never be forgotten!
Thank you, Meghan. People came together just because of you.

“Everybody Loves Meghan”
"A hero lives in Shane"

To hear a portion of the song, go to www.cdbaby.com
Artist name: Alan Hamilton
CD Title: Like Water
Click on song #14, The Shoebox