A heartfelt song I created for Shushann to celebrate our beautiful friendship. She enriches my life in so many ways.
The Gold You See
Verse 1
Jilly drew a circle
On a Tuesday night in town,
Eckhart spoke of stillness
Till the noise was settling down.
I couldn’t know that evening
How deep this bond would run—
You’d be the friend I turn to first
When worry clouds the sun.
With you I never need a mask,
I’m simply welcome there;
You listen without judgement
And meet me with your care.
Chorus 1
Shushann, you see the gold in people
Before they see it too;
You hold it to the daylight
Till they know that it is true.
With your radiant smile and wisdom,
With a heart both deep and kind,
You give us back the parts of us
We thought we’d left behind.
Verse 2
We drove the road to Bowral,
Took dear Jilly to The Mill;
Out to Tina in Carcoar,
Past the Blue Mountains, calm and still.
Manly, Watsons Bay and Balmoral,
Malabar beneath our feet;
Frenchys lunches, sushi, picnics,
Ice cream, chips and something sweet.
You always knew which exhibition,
Which concert we should see;
We watched the Whirling Dervishes
Turn like a living prayer.
Then out would come Her Majesty—
Your Queen beyond compare—
And soon your glorious laughter
Was filling up the air.
Chorus 2
Shushann, you find joy in small things—
A pathway, meal or view;
And somehow every ordinary day
Feels newly made with you.
You gather friends and keep them close,
You always make a place;
The world becomes more generous
Inside your warmth and grace.
Verse 3
Christmas comes to Coogee
With the circle by your fire;
Sometimes you guide us into stillness
Till the room begins to breathe.
At morning you’re in ocean pools,
Salt water, open sky,
Hoping some small octopus
Will quietly wander by.
Then home again to Anush—
Two souls that just belong;
The love between you, plain to see,
So tender and so strong.
And Mack stays warm in memory—
We’ve always understood
How furry souls can fill a life
With simple, faithful good.
Chorus 3
Shushann, you find wonder everywhere—
In ocean, earth and sky,
In friendship and in mystery,
In all that passes by.
From Uluru to Japan,
From Norway back to home,
Your curious and playful heart
Still calls you on to roam.
Verse 4
You sit beside the troubled,
Help couples find their way,
And help those living with Parkinson’s
Meet each changing day.
You show us age can deepen us,
That eldership is grace—
Not slowly disappearing,
But finding our true place.
You took the hardest chapters
And made wisdom from the pain;
A lifetime spent becoming,
Choosing love time and again.
Through books and soulful cards,
Through every workshop that you lead,
Your creativity keeps flowering,
Still answering the need.
Bridge
There’s a mystic in you listening
For the oneness under all,
For the sacred in the silence,
For the meaning in the call.
And after all your searching,
Your journeys far and wide,
The light you went out looking for
Was always there inside.
Final Chorus
May all the gold you see in us
Come shining back to you;
May love and deep connection
Surround you all life through.
May creativity and wonder,
Beauty, purpose, sacred grace,
Keep opening new horizons
And keep laughter on your face.
And wherever we are carried,
Whatever we pass through,
My life is richer than I can say
For sharing it with you.
You are one of life’s great gifts to me—
Shushann, I love you so.
