Music

I love a potted plant as much as the next person, and on each Mother’s Day for decades I have resolved to give mine some tender loving care and make it last. But I don’t have even a hint of a green thumb and within a few weeks mine has faded and has to be disposed of. It can make one feel like a failure! I’ve heard many friends tell the same sad story. Last year we decided to act and provide an alternative gift that would last throughout the year and far beyond, and that is how our 17-song collection of songs for mothers was born! After receiving an overwhelmingly positive response last year, we created another CD and now both are available at such low prices that bishops can afford them for all the women in their ward, or individuals can buy them at very low prices for family and friends.

The CDs contain a little bit of everything for women in every age, stage and circumstance of their lives. In addition to traditional songs, there are songs for single sisters, adoptive parents, lullabies, a song for those who have lost a baby and many more. I’ll include a couple of samples so you can feel the flavor of the albums:

Two weeks before my own mother passed away, I was sitting with her through the night when she said to me, “Do you have any questions? I won’t always be here you know.” I held her hand and asked her this important question: “Mother, I’ve watched all you have gone through this year, and I have marveled at the optimism and anticipation you have felt for this next step. I want to feel that way when my time comes, so please tell me your secret.” We reviewed her life and realized that she had always made the right choices, and essentially had no regrets. She had served others, shared her talents, taught the gospel to many people, put her family first, and all the things God expects of his daughters. She had born her widowhood for 21 years in a most courageous and happy manner. To answer my question she had me retrieve a poem she had written thirty years earlier when speaking to young women. It was a lengthy poem but I will share just one very significant verse:

You Grown Old
(Ruth Saunders Kapp)

There’s a little old woman up there ahead
Who somehow resembles you
She has your nose, your chin, your eyes-
She walks and talks like you too
Whether she loves or despises you
Is all up to you, I’m told
You brought her gladness or sadness
For you see, she is you-grown old

The answer to my question was to make right decisions early in my life and I would feel the joy that she felt at the very end of her life. I loved her idea and asked if I could write a song about it, using her ideas and some of my own. She said, “Well, that depends.” I asked what she meant by that and she said, “Will you pay me royalties?” I assured her I would do that if she would leave her forwarding address. I wrote the song that week and played and sang it for her on perhaps the last day she could have appreciated it. She gave me a little nod and thumbs up sign. When she passed away a short time later I knew what to do with her royalties-I used them to continue her family history work. I think of her idea often and it guides me in making good choices.

[Click here to listen to “The Woman You’ll Be Someday”]

The Woman You’ll Be Someday
(from The Mother’s Day Collection Volume 2)
Words & Music by Janice Kapp Perry
(and Ruth Saunders Kapp)
Solo: Wanda Lindstrom

I see an old woman rocking there
The sun shining softly on her silver hair
I wonder the secrets she holds deep inside
Is she smiling, or hiding a tear in her eye?
She watches our day as her story unfolds
For you see, she is you, grown old

And with every decision you make today
You’re creating the woman you’ll be someday
Just for now the old woman depends on you
She waits and she watches as you
Make her dreams come true

Be kind to the woman waiting there
For time passes swiftly and you must prepare
Hold fast to the values more precious than gold
And you’ll bless the old woman who waits down the road
She watches our day as her story unfolds
For you see, she is you, grown old

Only you have the power to make her whole
Only you can decide her eternal role
Just for now the old woman depends on you
She waits and she watches as you
Make her dreams come true

Be watchful young woman
Choose well today
Remember to live for
The woman you’ll be someday

Years ago I received a call from a Stake Relief Society President in the south, Teresa Vendel, who asked if I would consider writing a song for their yearly Stake Women’s Conference. The theme they had chosen was “A Woman’s Heart” and she gave me free reign to let my imagination go wherever it would take me in writing the words. I love such an assignment and pondered it continually for days or weeks. Besides conveying the joys of womanhood I also wanted to be honest about the struggles and heartaches that are encountered along the way. I loved thinking about this subject and I feel that I came close to capturing the feelings of a woman’s heart-at least my heart. I also felt that we found the perfect voice to record it.

[Click here to listen to “A Woman’s Heart”]

A Woman’s Heart
(from The Mother’s Day Collection Volume 1)
Words & Music by Janice Kapp Perry
Solo: April Meservy

A woman’s heart can hold so many dreams
Of lasting love, a home where she is queen
Through all the changing seasons of her life
In sun and rain, she keeps her dreams alive
Though rivers of despair may come and go
The pow’r of living water through her flows
And every guiding truth she has embraced
Will find a place . . . in a woman’s heart

A woman’s heart can feel so many things
The joys of life that home and family bring
Compassion swells within her very soul
It is her gift to comfort and console
There is a time to weep, a time to mourn
But thru her trials a stronger faith is born
From sorrow she will learn a healing grace
Can find a place . . . in a woman’s heart
A woman’s heart is open to God’s love
She shares this gift thru every tender touch
Though heartaches and temptations may arise
Her trusting heart is drawn toward the light
Bestowing tender mercies, she is led
To be a gentle shepherd in His stead
And courage that can build another’s faith
Will find a place .

. . in a woman’s heart

A woman’s heart can hold so many dreams
She sets her heart on true and sacred things
She will endure because she knows God’s grace
Will find a place . . . in a woman’s heart

We feel confident that all of the women in your life-grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, teachers, friends, neighbors-will enjoy our Mother’s Day CDs. Please spread the words to others who are looking for just the right gift for someone they love and admire.

In order to allow time for shipping, orders will need to be placed very soon. Look for ordering information below. And HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE MOTHER’S DAY CDs