This Beautiful Life by Lisa Bradshaw and David Santos

DOWNLOAD SONG

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING + SHARING.

All proceeds benefit

The DON'T WAIT Project®

and Donate Life America®.

My grandpa's death in 1992 was the first loss in my life that felt like it came too soon.

After he died, I struggled⏤I couldn't think of him without crying⏤until a few months later, when I thought of him and felt gratitude for the significance he'd held in my life, instead of the agony of his departure.

I wrote this one line on a napkin that I'd found in my glove box:

"The sad becomes a smile

And I find that all the while

I've been learning to let you go..."

I wasn't sure what to do with what I'd written, but I was pretty sure it could be a good line to a country music song, so I put the napkin back in my glove box and kept it.

When my husband, Wesley, died in 2004, 12 years after my grandpa, I rediscovered the line I'd written on the napkin when cleaning out our old college car before selling it. Finding the message I'd written to myself somehow gave me hope again.

I knew it would take longer and be more intermittent, but there could come a time when I would one day think of Wesley and feel more gratitude for the gift of having shared my life and our son with him than the enormity of the pain his early departure had caused us.

It took me 28 years, but that one line I'd written on a fast food napkin and had kept all those years finally became that country music song I'd contemplated decades ago. It comes from the deepest place of gratitude I've ever ventured.

I'm grateful to David Santos⏤my co-writer and a long-time, talented musician in Nashville⏤for believing in the one line I'd written and giving this first-time songwriter an opportunity.

It's my best effort at telling my family's story, letting Wesley know I am happy and at peace; somehow conveying in 3 minutes, 38 seconds the joy of raising our son; and reminding everyone who hears it that we can all build a beautiful life⏤no matter the obstacles.

⏤LISA BRADSHAW

DOWNLOAD THE SONG

This Beautiful Life

He has your smile and brilliant mind
Your stubbornness, and yes, he’s kind
A lot like you, but more like me

I knew you’d matter from the start
Saved you a place deep in my heart
Some things are just meant to be

(Chorus)
The deepest wounds, they never heal
But we move on, cause that's the deal

Come what may
Your son, your wife

I know you know
We've carved it out…
This beautiful life

We lost the fight,
God knows we tried
You said, be strong, you’ll be all right

Just raise our son, you’ll find your way

The years go by, I tell you this
Grief still shows up, in what you’ve missed

But I’ve kept my promise, everyday.

(Chorus)

The deepest wounds, they never heal

But we move on, cause that's the deal

Come what may

Your son, your wife

I know you know

We've carved it out…

This beautiful life

(Song Breakdown)

The sad becomes a smile

And I find that all the while

I’ve been learning to let you go

Been raising up our little one

Our little one's now 21

And somehow I know you know

We’ve been carving out this life without you

(Chorus)

The deepest wounds, they never heal

But we move on, cause that's the deal

Come what may

Your son, your wife

I know you know

We’ve carved it out...

This beautiful life.

(Chorus)

The deepest wounds, they never heal

But we move on, cause that's the deal

Come what may

Your son, your wife

I know you know

We’ve carved it out...

Gone so long, I've found my strong,

Figure out where we belong...

In this beautiful life.

SONG CREDITS

Written by Lisa Bradshaw and David Santos

David Santos: producer

Peter Young: mix and master, drums and percussion (Loretta Lynn)

David Santos: bass guitar (Billy Joel, Elton John, Dan Fogerty)

Denny Hemingson: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar (Tim McGraw)

Jimmy Nichols: acoustic piano, electric piano (Faith Hill)

Aly Cutter: vocals

DOWNLOAD THE SONG

David Santos, the co-writer of This Beautiful Life, has toured with some of the greats, like Elton John, Billy Joel and John Fogerty; and he's recorded with some of the most talented artists of our time, including my all-time favorite, Bob Seger.

David wrote and produced the music for This Beautiful Life; I wrote the melody and lyrics; and he called in some favors to his musician friends, including producer Peter Young; Denny Hemingson (steel guitar player with Tim McGraw); and Jimmy Nichols (Faith Hill's music director). Almost everyday, David called me with a new development during production, and every time, the growing assembly of talent blew my mind.

The incredible voice behind my family's story is Aly Cutter. When David and I chose her for the vocals, we didn't know her own story until she sent a video thanking us for including her in the song. She lost her parents at a young age and deeply connected with the lyrics.

This song was produced one layer at a time through text messages and voice message recordings and because everyone involved in Nashville was home instead of on tour, due to the Covid-19 shutdown, lending their talents to our efforts and a good cause.

PARTNERING WITH DONATE LIFE AMERICA

Like all things⏤there is always a cause and an effect. The cause we've partnered with is Donate Life America. The effect, we hope, is bringing awareness to organ, eye and tissue donation registry through the song,This Beautiful Life, and honoring everyone who has ever received or helped safe a life through the generous gift of organ donation, including the family who donated to Wesley 17 years ago.

THE SONG⏤A FUNDRAISER

By downloading This Beautiful Life, you support our efforts to increase donation awareness and contribute to the storytelling of the gift of donation.

BECOME A REGISTERED DONOR

Approximately 60% of the adult population are registered donors, we want to help bridge the gap between the number of people who support donation and the number of people who are actually registered.

The heart on your driver's license isn't enough. It does register you with your local DMV, and that is an effective method of registering, but also registering with Donate Life America insures that your registration does not expire if your driver's license expires and your registration is not affected if move to a different state.