Hi Everyone,

Here is a story about my first EP, the song "25 Years."

Five years ago, I was living in China, in the beautiful city of Shenzhen. One of the good things about Shenzhen is that you meet a lot of special people there, as not everyone is suited to live thousands of miles away from home, family, and friends.

In China, Chinese people often talk about work and business, but not much more than that. It’s very common to meet someone Chinese for years and yet you hardly know anything personal from that person. Chinese people don’t like to open themselves much about personal matters, although some exceptions occur. On the other hand, when you meet someone in China who is not Chinese, things can go very fast in terms of opening up your heart and sharing a brief story of your life with a stranger. Just like a very good friend of mine that I met in China once told me, if you have a Black Box for complete absence of knowledge and a White Box for a lot of knowledge about someone, in China, two foreigners that have just met can go from Black Box to White Box in just a couple of hours and a few drinks.

This song, "25 Years," has been written for two special people, a great couple. I met them at one of my shows, and we went from Black Box to White Box at the speed of light. We became very good friends, and I decided very fast that if that was only depending on my choice, they would be my friends for life.

Two years passed, and that couple with their two daughters was more and more being my family in China, and I was just waiting for the opportunity when it would be possible to join my good friends in China with my own family.

Once, they told me we needed to meet and talk, and then they invited me and my family to join them on the celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. They would like me to play my songs at the event, and also, they wanted my family to be present.

I got briefed with the plan - we would all meet in Europe with their European friends, get on a cruise ship for a one-week cruise vacation where the celebration would take place. Great plan – our families were about to finally meet.

I had only one doubt… what would be my present for such a special event with such special people?

The date of the trip to Europe was closing in when I realized that the special present would be… an original song. I would try to write a song and sing it for them.

Writing the song was as magical as fast – I was also celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary, and just like them, I also had two daughters and a very similar experience. As I got the song almost finished, I got myself thinking that the coolest thing would be to surprise the bride with the groom singing the song as a surprise gift, so I told my friend about my idea and invited him for several rehearsal sessions at my place.

He first started telling me he wouldn’t be able to do it, but with a couple of hours of training after, he started to feel more confident about his task, and he was doing it even better than myself.

When his training was almost finished, I then found out there was something missing in the song and added the bridge:

“I would walk the earth, 

I would sail the oceans,

As long as we can smile,

It’s been a crazy ride,

With you by my side,

I would do it all again,

I want to fly…”

He was once again nervous with the learning of the new part where the singing was harder, but he sorted it out.

Everybody traveled to Europe. Our families got to finally meet, and it was fun to see how two families from different countries could have so many things in common.

We then had the Celebration – That took place somewhere on the ocean performed by the Cruise Officer and afterwards we all moved to another location on the ship for a Big Party –  I then invited the Groom to sing for the Bride in front of all of the friends, and….

Yes – He did it very well, and although it was the first time everyone was listening to the song, the crowd sang the Chorus  “Give me 99, 25 is Not Enough – We’ll Fight Against the Time….”

And Yes – The Bride Cried and everyone was very emotional with that special moment. There and then I realized I wanted to share that song with more people.

Song is now released and more and more is played in many silver wedding celebrations around the world.

The Bride flew from this world very prematurely. The song and the memories will remain.

Note - Dedicated to my Dear Friend Anne.