Family is everything. Back in 2020, when we were all sticking close to home and counting our blessings, it felt like the right time to dust off my old songs and recordings. Our youngest child plays the cello, and I thought that it would be good to expose him to the creative side of music, as it had never occurred to me to write my own songs until my older sister made the suggestion to me when I was about 15. As I began to dig through them all, I realized that my passion for them had not waivered. I had always intended to properly record many of them, but life happened, and I just never got around to it. By 2021, the songs began to flow again, and with them, the desire to properly immortalize them took over. I reached out to my former producer, Dan Marfisi, but, like myself, his life had dramatically changed directions in 2008. He was not producing anymore. My heart sank. I had missed my opportunity. I attempted to find a replacement, but my hopes were not high, as I had already been incredibly fortunate to find that needle in the haystack 13 years before. A couple of producers and months later, I reached back out to Dan to see if he could recommend someone for me, and I had to ask him to repeat himself when he said he was considering working with me again. My heart nearly exploded. We had a nice long talk and agreed to give it a go. But with so many songs to choose from, I honestly did not know where to start. I pored over them all and agonized, feeling like I was being forced to choose a favorite child. With recent events and the profound awareness that tomorrow is never guaranteed, the choice became clear to me. I would start with the song I had written about the time my father was deployed during the Viet Nam war. It was only natural that songs I had written for my three older children would follow. I eventually wrote and added three more songs dedicated to my mother, husband and fourth child to the album. These are my people. My greatest blessings. The ones I live for. If I were to never record another song after these, I would have no regrets. That is how my next album, "Love, Emily", came to be, and I can't wait to share it with you.