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‘Empty Chair’ lyrics echo son’s grief By ANDIE LEATHERMAN, LTN Staff Writer Feb. 13, 2002 - When Donnie Brown’s mother died, her easy chair sat empty in the family living room. His father could not bear looking at the chair, a constant reminder that his wife was dead. The grieving man asked Brown to take it away. As the chair was loaded onto his pickup truck, a song formed in his head. He penned the lyrics and medley and has now produced a recording on compact disc. “Empty Chair” tells the story of his mother, Mildred Louise Brown, as she coped with a prognosis that she had between a month a two years to live. The 69-year-old Brown would sit in her favorite chair and pray for a miracle that never came. She only lived a few months leaving her family stunned, questioning why God took her so soon. Brown writes that after his mother’s death “there’s no laughter here. There may never be for years.” He describes the day his father asked him to get rid of the chair. “You could feel our hearts break,” he sings. The song’s refrain, “I can’t believe I’m staring at this empty chair,” echoes the unreal feeling of grief. Brown says writing the song, which he backs up with acoustic guitar, was emotionally difficult but also therapeutic. The day his father was ready to let go of the chair was a pivotal moment. “The hardest part is letting go of personal effects. They’re not coming back,” Brown said. He describes his mother, who died July 8, 2001, as fun-loving, and generous to strangers. “I don’t think God could have given me a better mama,” Brown said. “God blessed me.” For five years, she underwent treatment to fight three brain cancers before doctors told her there was no more they could do. Brown is selling the compact disc to raise funds to purchase a headstone for his mother’s grave. Any other money raised after that will be donated to Hospice of Lincoln County, the non-profit organization which took care of his mother after she was diagnosed as terminally ill.
To purchase the CD, which costs $5, call 704-732-6146 or 704-735-8160.
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
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