The story behind “I’m Gonna Be There” by Marilee Kay Leishman
In a little room near the entry of our last house, we had a keyboard set up. On a particularly boring day, I was playing around with the kids and felt the keyboard calling me. I went over to it and sat down. I brought Eli’s wheelchair into the room and Evan came around to “help” me play as well. We were in a silly mood, so I started playing some fun chords with him. I began to play around with a melody and sing with him. I tried to get him to sing some “Ahhs”. His ahhs were more like mid-tone shouts, but his attempts were SO cute! I realized that I liked the little chord progression and melody we had made up, so I hurried to write it down before I forgot it. It sat there for a few months until I was able to get back around to it.
That first chord progression and melody made up the verses of “I’m Gonna Be There”. The song was inspired by a fun playful moment with my children and that’s what the song became about. One thing that has been really important to me since having children and especially after they were diagnosed with GM1 was to….not forget. I have this fear that I will forget all of these precious and amazing moments that I have with my children. I also fear that I may get caught up in things of lesser importance and miss the moments even as they are happening. I really didn’t want to look back at this time with my children and have regrets.
In order to help me to not forget I have kept a journal over the years (a sentence or a paragraph at least a few times a week). I have written down little stories. We have filmed our children and taken pictures. I’ve also somewhat kept up a family blog. In order to not have regret (probably not a complete guarantee, but I’m sure it’s actually a choice), I’ve tried to be very aware of balancing my life, making sure I have enough time to spend quality daily time with my children, while maintaining my sanity. I’ve also noticed times when I’ve gotten completely obsessed with one topic or another and it’s gotten in the way of my family relationships. If I feel myself getting a little too focused on something else, I really try to reign it in and re-balance, remembering the most important things. I hope my children know that I will always be there for them and won’t ever forget the good times!
Verse 1 – Eli
Verse 2 – Laya
Verse 3 – Evan
I love the background stories and accompanying pics. Well done, Marilee.