"Songs:Struggle in Life"
by John Durant

Songs are a diary of humanity that document our time spent in this world. So many songs have been written of heartbreak and despair, and they remind us that we all share similar struggles in life.

I've written many songs that that may never be heard beyond the realm of a writer's night. They're songs about life experiences and hard times that just needed to be written, maybe as a form of personal psychological therapy. There seems to be a healing power that comes with this type of artistic expression.

I wrote a song called "It Ain't Easy To Say Goodbye" shortly after my mother lost her fight with cancer. I've never been able to sing it in front of an audience, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to finish the song without choking up. It's a song that instantly recalls the emotions and feelings of that extremely painful time in my life. I've written songs about heartbreak, alcoholism, death, and many other subjects that deal with life's problems and struggles. We can all identify with these life experiences, and a song can help a person feel the comfort of knowing that someone else understands their pain and suffering.

Two years ago I was vacationing on St George's Island, which is a beautiful barrier island located on the Florida panhandle. My wife and I were walking down the beach looking to stake out a good patch of sand to relax for the afternoon. We came upon a family who were setting up their umbrella and putting suntan lotion on their three young children.

Everything looked perfectly normal from a distance, but as we passed by, the mother turned and looked at me; when she smiled, my heart sunk. I immediately noticed that she was wearing the same type of head wrap that my mother used to wear to hide her hair loss after chemotherapy treatments. I smiled back at her, but I knew right away that this could be the last vacation she may ever share with her husband and children.

My wife and I set up our beach umbrella and surf fishing poles a short distance from the family. The children were very young, and they were having the time of their lives as if nothing was wrong. The youngest little girl was about two years old, and she'd run back and forth under our fishing poles, laughing as the water would splash up around her tiny feet. It was a beautiful but bittersweet experience watching them share this special time together, and it's one I'll never forget.

That day I started writing "The Miracle on St George's Island". As I wrote the song, I realized the miracle wasn't that the mother would be cured of cancer, but that angels were sent to cover this family with an umbrella of peace and healing, so that they could enjoy the best time of their life before she had to leave them. Every time I think of that song, it brings me back to that day on the beach; I feel the warmth of the mother's smile, I hear the little girl laughing, and I feel the incredible gift the angels brought that day to St. George's Island.