I really enjoy the music of Nicole C Mullen, so when I received this
article from a friend, I just had to share it.  I can't wait until the CD
comes out.  I want to hear  this one.
Kathy
>

This article is about Brianna Nelson, the young lady who drowned while
> swimming at a lake last summer. Both text and Web reference are
provided
> below.--WH
>
> MLive.com's Printer-Friendly Page
>
http://www.mlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-1/1092482147265660.xm
l
>

> 'YOU DANCE IN THE LIGHT' -- Life, death of young girl inspires
musician's
> song of hope
> Saturday, August 14, 2004By Terry Deboer
> The Grand Rapids Press
> A song was the only way Nicole C. Mullen could say goodbye to Brianna.
>
> The award-winning Christian music vocalist has written "Bye Bye,
Brianna," a
> song in memory of 7-year-old Brianna Nelson, a visually impaired
youngster
> from Grant who died last summer in a swimming accident at a Minnesota
camp.
>
> Mullen met Nelson at a concert two years ago in Muskegon.
>
> "I remember telling her that her hair and clothes were really nice,"
said
> Mullen, who made a special effort to spend time with the girl.
>
> "I took her hand in mine to feel my face so she could tell what I
looked
> like," Mullen said last week in a phone interview. "We laughed that I
had a
> big nose."
>
> The tune, a surprisingly bouncy, midtempo track, is included on the
singer's
> upcoming CD, "Everyday People," to be released next month. Mullen plans
to
> sing the song tonight at the Unity Christian Music Festival in
Muskegon,
> with Brianna's family in attendance.
>
> Danelle Nelson, Brianna's mother, vividly remembers meeting Mullen.
>
> "Nicole was five months pregnant at the time. But she got down on her
knees
> to be right at Brianna's level," said Danelle, 27.
>
> "She signed her T-shirt and gave her a CD and signed that, too."
>
> On July 18 last summer, Brianna drowned at a Minneapolis camp for
visually
> impaired children. A safety check on shore showed her missing from the
group
> on an outing at a local lake. The tragedy was felt throughout the Grant
> community and those who knew her.
>
> Mullen heard about the news through a letter to her fan club by someone
who
> had witnessed their meeting.
>
> "It hit me like an arrow through the heart. I started crying, right
where I
> was," Mullen said. "I deviated from my normal concert that night and
asked
> the audience to stop and pray for the family."
>
> Last December, Danelle and her husband, Carl, reconnected with Mullen
> backstage during a Kentwood concert appearance.
>
> "I shared with Nicole about Brianna's faith and how we believe it was
her
> time to go," Danelle said.
>
> Mullen was touched by the meeting.
>
> "We cried and laughed and cried some more," she said. "To be honest,
that
> helped the healing process in my heart. Their whole approach ...
they're not
> bitter with God or the people at the camp."
>
> The Mullen and Nelson families began exchanging e-mails about a variety
of
> things, including kids. Mullen has three children, including
10-year-old
> Jasmine, who also met Brianna. The Nelsons have a 4-year-old daughter,
Abby.
>
> Then Mullen began writing a song about Brianna. "It kind of came to
me," she
> said. She sent lyrics to the Nelsons to see what they thought.
>
> "I said I loved it and that it was beautiful," said Danelle, a
children's
> librarian.
>
> "A while later she e-mailed me saying that the song might go on the
album."
>
> The lyrics describe that first meeting between the two and then carry
the
> story forward, imagining Brianna in heaven, "looking at Jesus face to
face."
>
> Mullen next sent the Nelsons a version with music. The song required
> remastering, and the Nelsons have not yet heard the final cut that will
be
> on the new CD.
>
> "There's hand-clapping and choir and orchestra, with this celebration
at the
> end that says I have this hope in my heart that I'm gonna see you
again,"
> said Mullen, who has written several Dove Award-wining songs such as
"On My
> Knees" and "Redeemer."
>
> Brianna enjoyed music and had studied piano for several years.
>
> Plans are under way for the youngster to be memorialized by a sculpture
of
> her likeness at the Grant library. It should be unveiled sometime next
year.
> But the song has the potential to reach around the world.
>
> "Her mother had thought God could use Brianna's life yet in another
way,"
> Mullen said.
>
> The Nelsons will be special guests of Mullen today at the Unity
Festival.
> They will be wearing T-shirts with Brianna's picture on the front. And
for
> the first time they will hear a live performance of the song that says
> goodbye to their daughter.
>
> Brianna had retinopathy of prematurity, (R.O.P.), a blinding disease
that
> affects premature babies.
>
> "I knew when she was born she was a special little girl who was gonna
do
> something major," Brianna's mother said. "She touched a lot of people
when
> she was alive, and now that's continuing."
>
> © 2004 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission
>
> Copyright 2004 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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>


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