Today would have been my Mom & Dad’s 65th wedding anniversary. With Valentine’s Day upon us, it is appropriate to share the following story:

Dad died about four months before what would have been Mom & Dad’s 50th anniversary. My parents raised 12 kids and farmed all of their lives and plans were in progress for a big celebration. Unfortunately, and without warning, dad died the night of my oldest sister’s 25th wedding anniversary party. That day was a perfect day with many of the kids and grandkids home to help celebrate. I remember giving dad a hug as we were leaving and he seemed like he didn’t want the day to end…At 2 AM the phone rang and my sister said dad had died of a heart attack. That was just a few short hours after my last hug with him.

Several weeks later, after the funeral and all of the dark formalities were done, I was sitting outside with Dad’s “Grand Old Opry” baseball cap on (Note: Mom and Dad went to Nashville on their honeymoon 50 years earlier). I was thinking about my family when I started to hear words. It was almost as if I had a headset on and someone was talking to me. I grabbed a notepad and started writing the words I heard. The lyrics of this song are the exact words I heard that day. I truly believe it was my Dad wanting to say those words to my Mom. I just happened to be “plugged in” that day for some reason (probably that darn baseball cap!) Those words were the lyrics to what eventually became the song “Through the Years.”

Then, one night about a week later, I woke up from a dead sleep at about 3 AM and heard music. I don’t read a lick of music so I generally keep a tape recorder on the piano for when I get so inspired. I dragged myself out of bed and sat at the piano and started finding the notes I was hearing in my head. It ended up being a real nice waltz. And I remember thinking—man, dad would really like that!

A few days later I was sitting at the piano playing that waltz when I remembered those words I heard. Didn’t take long to realize that the lyrics and the music were meant to go together! It was a love song for my Mom from Dad for their 50th wedding anniversary. No getting around it. I truly believe this was the love song my Dad always wanted to write for my Mom—but he just didn’t get it done before he left…

Here are the lyrics (copyright, 2006–Joan Ketels)

Through the years
You were there, my darling
You stood by me and raised our family
And I know it wasn’t always easy
Through the years
You were an angel to me

Your wings were strong
When they needed to be
And so soft when I needed to see
That you loved me completely
And they’re wrapped in gold
on this anniversary.

To hear a clip of “Through the Years,” CLICK HERE and scroll down to song #7.