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Skye Thomas is available for life coaching.
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Melissa,
I woke up this morning to the sound of the telephone ringing. They were calling to tell me that you have breast cancer. I immediately began sobbing. No, we’ve never met and I’m not some obsessively crazed fan. I love you with all my heart because you’ve serenaded me throughout the ups and downs of my journey. If they ever made a movie about my life, almost every song on the soundtrack would be one of yours. You give voice to everything I’ve ever felt. While lying there in my bed crying, I imagined you going through the hell that I went through last year when I found a walnut sized lump. It rips my heart out to imagine you and your family going through the emotional nightmare that I just went through. Even though I believe that you’re going to heal and be okay, I still hate the idea of you having to go through any piece of the whole breast cancer experience. When I imagined the world without you, I kept hearing that line in that old song, “…the day the music died…” and then so selfishly, I thought to myself, “But she was put here to sing for me…. Who will sing to me if she leaves?“
I cried more for you this morning then I did for myself a year ago. Isn’t it funny that I would cry so much for someone that I’ve never even met? The truth is, I am at peace with my own death, but not with yours. We all have those things in life that make it beautiful and sacred. For me those things are my children, the beach, the first flowers of spring, the redwoods, driving with the top down on a sunny day, soulmates, music and you. Your death would be like finding out that the entire redwood forest burned down in a forest fire. It’s a spiritual landmark within my heart.
When I was a single mom with my first child and my heart was shattered by his father’s decision to leave us, I saw you on MTV singing “Let Me Go.” I asked a friend of mine who you were and she said that she had your first two cassettes. She dubbed a copy of both for me and I learned every single word to every single song. Those first two cassettes sang of the raw pain and passion of a girl in her early twenties who had no idea why love wasn’t happening to her. The music gave voice to the pain and anguish of having been so desperately in love and then so incredibly alone. Never did the lyrics nor the instrumentals ever imply that you were weak… only hurt. I could so completely identify with a strong independent woman howling at the moon and licking her wounds.
As time went on, you always seemed to release a new CD just when my life was undergoing another big change. You always had the soundtrack ready for me to sing along. When I first heard the voices of angels calling on me to pull myself together and to begin writing and speaking to the other hurt and broken souls, you released “Talking to My Angels.” Do you know how many times when I was falling apart and praying, that song would suddenly begin to play in the background? Even the night before my first mammogram, my angels reminded me of their presence by playing that song for me. They speak through you.
When I was in a horrible painful marriage that was falling apart, you released “Breakdown”
and once again provided the exact songs for that point in my life. Your songs, “My
Lover” and “Sleep” have ever since represented my idea of what the soulmate relationship
should feel like. They are the two all-
When “Skin” and “Lucky” came out and you were healing and so happy, I almost cried for joy. We had both been through so much together. We were both in such a wonderful centered place. It was so great to hear playful songs of delight from the woman who had taught me to take a bite out of life. I wasn’t able to see you when you came to town a few weeks ago but was thrilled this morning to see that you’ve put out a DVD of the “Lucky” tour. It’s the number one item on my Christmas list this year! I love the one from your “Live and Alone” tour. I played it this morning on my computer while I read through my business correspondence and planned out my work day.
I wanted to write an article about you today and tell the world that you’re so much more then the Patron Saint of the Gays and Lesbians. I am not a lesbian, but I am a woman in a man’s world. I have been painfully abused and I have been loved beyond words by the men in my life. I am not a traditional Christian and I live in a country that believes “freedom of religion” means the right to choose which form of Christianity you prefer. I hear voices in my head sometimes and they tell me to do good deeds and to help make the world a better place. I’m extremely spiritual and not one bit religious. The lyrics of your music speaks to the core of my heart. So many of the songs are about being strong in who you are no matter what other people think about your choices. Your music empowers me to stand tall and to walk proud. You give voice to so much more then just women’s issues or gay rights. You sing for everyone who’s ever been really hurt and had to find a way to heal. You sing for everyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t fit in. You sing for everyone who’s ever found the sunny day on the other side of the storm. Thank you so much for sharing your open soul with us. Thank you for putting it to the universal communicator… music. Thank you for not hiding away feeling too small or insignificant to be what you were destined to be. Thank you for giving such an amazing gift of voice to all of us.
You mean the world to me personally. You inspire me to keep writing and to keep touching people’s hearts. I’m not one of those fans who keeps up on the stars and knows all kinds of trivia and such. I’m not even an official member of your fan club! I just love your work and your uncanny ability to sing the right song at the perfect moment that I needed to hear it. Wherever you are, and no matter what happens to you, you have made a huge difference in my life. You are part of what makes my life good. I am trusting that the angels will smile on you while you’re healing because the world isn’t ready for you to leave just yet.
take care,
Skye
Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow’s Edge
Melissa, you were so inspirational at the Grammys! I cried for being so proud... Everything that I love about you was demonstrated in that one performance. Thank you for being so very very you!
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don’t you cry
Can’t you see I’m going
Where I can see the sun rise
I’ve been talking to my angel
And he said that it’s alright
I’ve always had to run
I don’t know just why
Desire slowly smoking
There’s something waiting out there
That says I’ve got to try
I’ve been talking to my angel
And he said that it’s alright
This town thinks I’m crazy
They just think I’m strange
Sometimes they want to own me
Sometimes they wish I’d change
But I can feel the thunder
Underneath my feet
It’s lonely but it’s sweet
Don’t be afraid
Close your eyes
Lay it all down
Don’t you cry
Can’t you see I’m going
Where I can see the sun rise
I’ve been talking to my angel
And he said that it’s alright