He Takes Her Home
Notes
Recorded at Irene Goehner's funeral service. Our Savior Lutheran Church, November 1983.
David Tom wrote this song as our mom was in her final stages of contending with cancer. She died at home in Burlington, and the funeral service was at the church next door to the house. He played this song during the funeral. Other than perhaps Debbi, I don't know if anyone else had ever heard the song. The song was on the cassette tape that was made of the funeral service. You can hear parishioners coughing at times. I am not aware of Tom ever playing the song after he shared it during the funeral. Mom's leaving our experience of life was quite difficult in many ways, and the funeral was quite emotional in many ways. Tom's song was a striking hymn to the faith and perspective that our mom always carried...a faith and perspective that, in my estimation, that Tom always carried. I remember crying, and feeling breathless, and yet at peace when Tom shared this song. Having never heard it again for some time, I occasionally mentioned the song when chatting with Tom, and he immediately would share the verses of the song...he knew it verbatim and without hesitation. Having found a cassette recording of the song when going through some of Tom's musical equipment with Debbi and Eva and Ilana, after Tom passed away, I was at first elated when I found a cassette tape with the song name written on the tape, and then forlorn when the cassette, which was quite old, didn't play. On a whim, I put the tape itself into a newer cassette case, and was delightfully shocked when the tape played perfectly. I copied the recording to my phone, and shared the cassette with Zack to digitize. Zack shared a part of the tape that I had not previously noticed...at 4:40 in the original cassette...as the song is ending...Tom carries his voice beyond the music of the Roland Juno-6 analog keyboard he used to play the song...his voice is just there...for me as if he was having it linger in loving perpetuity. I've replayed the recording on my phone dozens of times since...and have the same tears and breathlessness that I encountered when I first heard Tom share the song.
Track ID: T02B01