"There's a Circle in Everything:" A Granddaughter's Tribute

Here is a story, told through song, by a little girl who grew up to be a songwriter(at left). She sings from her heart about
her grandmother, (at right) who died a month ago at age 74. This is a reminder that our lives our fleeting and that the One who called us into being also calls us all home.

The songwriter, Jess Nolan, grew up around the corner from us, and now is a music student at the University of Miami. Her grandparents' home is a few blocks away. I have spent many hours in the presence of her family and watched Denise and Ray Nolan with their grandchildren, so the images Jess shares are deeply familiar to me. Give a listen.

"Circle"

She lays in bed in a white room

Not where she belongs

Once she was growing in the garden

Her paintings hang on the walls at home

Each one with fields of green

Each one a lively scene

There's a circle in everything

There's a circle

Wrapped up in the cleanest cotton

Her hair is thinning out

But she still smiles somehow

I still see her through the porch screen

She is planting seeds

She is teaching me

That there's a circle in everything

There's a circle

A circle 

She keeps her paintbrushes in the attic

Where there's a bird's eye view

To see me drawing on the sidewalk

I used to hide there when I'd run away from home

And she would hold my hand

And now I understand

That there's a circle in everything

There's a circle

She lays in bed in a white room

But it won't be long

I see her growing in the garden 

© Jess Nolan 2013