Max's Song of Love...

A while ago, I read a review of Songs of Love on 5 Minutes for Special Needs. I was instantly intrigued, and thought, if ever there was an organization made with kids like Max in mind, this is it!

The Songs of Love Foundation is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that creates free, personalized, original songs to uplift children and teens currently facing tough medical, physical or emotional challenges. Each CD is professionally produced with lyrics containing the child's name and references to all of his or her favorite activities, things, people, and pets. Songs are written and performed in any language in the musical style that the child likes best (pop, R&B, rap, rock, alternative, etc.), by a variety of talented professionals.

I turned in our application, full of things that Max loves. I got a phone call a few days later asking for more information on Max. The lady with Songs of Love let me know they don't usually get kids whose favorite music is opera. ;)

I was really curious what they would come up with after listening
to some of the other songs for other kids. I knew it would be special whatever we got, but was not prepared for it to be so perfectly made for him.

Not only was it an opera song, set to beautiful piano accompaniment, by Danny Obadia, but it was written and performed by an opera singer, Charity Tilleman-Dick. An opera singer, who has had a bilateral lung transplant, and came out with her beautiful voice still able to share with the world, and one very special little boy, our Max.

These are the words she wrote for our Maximilian...one in seven billion.

THERE ARE MILLIONS, EVEN BILLIONS
OF PEOPLE GOING ROUND AND ROUND
IN SEARCH OF WHAT TO DO
AND FOR MILLIONS, EVEN BILLIONS
MAXIMILIAN, YOU KNOW WHAT'S FOR YOU

YOU LIKE YELLOW SUNSHINE DAYS
FULL OF MILLIONS OF YELLOW SUNSHINE RAYS
ON A BEACH OF THE ATLANTIC OR PACIFIC OCEAN BLUE
MAX, A CURIOUS MONKEY NAMED GEORGE
IS THERE WITH A PIZZA FOR YOU

THERE ARE MILLIONS, EVEN BILLIONS
OF PEOPLE LOOKING HIGH AND LOW
IN SEARCH OF LOVE THAT'S TRUE
BUT OF MILLIONS, MAYBE BILLIONS
MAXIMILIAN, LOVE FOUND YOU

YOUR MOM, SHE LOVES YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN SAY
YOUR DAD LOVES SPINNING WITH YOU IF HE CAN EACH DAY
AND YOU LOVE THEM AND OPERA - WHAT A FINE CHOICE
THE KIND OF SINGING THAT TAKES THE MOST WELL-TRAINED VOICE
CURIOUS GEORGE! SOUND THE DRUMS!
CURTAIN CALL! HERE IT COMES!

OUT OF MILLIONS, OUT OF BILLIONS,
OF PEOPLE LIVING ON THIS EARTH, WE GOT LUCKY - IT'S TRUE
'CAUSE FROM MILLIONS, ACTUALLY BILLIONS
WE GOT OURSELVES A MAXIMILIAN
WHO IS ONE IN SEVEN BILLION
MAX, WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU


I wanted to share a few videos of Max enjoying his song. The first two, were his first times listening to his song. Now he wants to listen to it multiple times a day. He was almost ready for bed when Steve brought in the mail, so we let him listen to it a few times before going to sleep. That's why he's so quiet and still in these first two videos.



This one makes us smile so much to watch him "singing" along silently. He's moving his mouth along, like he's singing all of the words. We've never seen him do this along to music, so it's curious to us if he's actually singing along, at least in his head.



This one was a more active Max, but he's now got a cold, which explains the stuffy nose he's singing with in this video. When he puts his hand up to his mouth, he's asking for "more", he knows the song is almost over when she sings her aria, so he always asks for "more" at this point.



You can hear some of the song in each of these videos. But, if you want to download the whole song, or as a ringtone, you can go to the Family and Friends Song&Ringtone Download Page and enter in Max's last name and code: Watson 22654 to get your own copy. Each song costs Songs of Love $250.00 to produce, which they give without any cost to the family. This is such a fabulous organization, and they have given us such an amazing gift.