This song is a product of the following story:
My uncle Bob was a bitter angry racist for 60 years of his life. That was the year he came to live with me. One day he used the “N” word at our kitchen table and I told him, “No! Not here, not ever. Your daughter is married to an African American man and I will not let you take the chance that one day your grandchildren are in the other room hearing you use that word. Remove it from your vocabulary if only while you are in my home.”

Fast forward a few years and I walked in after work one day and he was sitting in the living room, with his oxygen tank connected to his nose, and he was weeping. He was watching Oprah, where the great grandson of a slave owner was apologizing to the granddaughter of a slave that was born on their plantation. Of course there was not a dry eye in the house… including my house. Bob looked at me and said: “I have been so blind, thank you, son, for helping me see.”

As fate would have it his daughter was retaking her wedding vows the following month – he had of course missed her first wedding in rebellion to the “mixing of races”. This time he wanted to be there. It was my honor and privilege to take him to her ceremony, where he walked her down the aisle… again, there was not a dry eye in the house.

With Love and Respect,
Rusty