MAMA, DO YOU HEAR THE RAIN?
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                 MAMA, DO YOU HEAR THE RAIN?

The innocence of her young life
Touched this heart of mine
She had her dreams like any child
But this girl's dreams could fly
Beyond horizons that she chased
High above the clouds
I felt I knew her right away
She must have been proud

     She called her mother on the phone
     On that stormy day
     What's the weather like at home?
     Mama, do you hear the rain?

She once said she felt so free
So it's bittersweet
It must have been her time to leave
When all the world would see
And learn a lesson from a child
On how life should be lived
She had a dream that she could fly
And that's just what she did

     She called her mother on the phone
     On that stormy day
     What's the weather like at home?
     Mama, do you hear the rain?

     She called her mother on the phone
     On that stormy day
     What's the weather like at home?
     Mama, do you hear the rain?

     Mama, do you hear the rain?

          Written by Pam O'Daniel and Jeff Stewart
          Copyright 1996 Pam O'Daniel / Blue Clover Music (ASCAP)

    
     You should have told me ha

    

   
       
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Status: This album is in development

Concept: Story Songs, Character Portraits
    
Songs:
Now That I'm in the Picture
Pull Over
From Tucson to Me
Should Have Told Me That in Tulsa
Mama, Do You Hear the Rain?
Love Thing
Till Roses Turn to Stone
Overalls and Pantyhose
A Moment I'll Never Forget
Factory Blues
Before I Stay
The Stranger
Talkin' Through Tin Cans

    

    
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Co-Writer(s):  Pam O'Daniel and Jeff Stewart (see www.JeffStewart.com )

No bio and pictures available for Pam O'Daniel yet.

   

   

       
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On April 11, 1996 a 7-year-old girl, Jessica Dubroff, was killed in an airplane crash while trying
to set a record as the youngest person to fly across America.

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CHEYENNE, Wyoming (CNN) -- "Yeah, I want to break a record ... I just know I'm going to break it," 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff said Thursday morning, eager to fulfill her quest to become the youngest person to fly across America.

Hours later, that dream ended tragically.

Jessica was killed along with her father, Lloyd Dubroff, and flight instructor Joe Reid when their plane nose-dived into a driveway shortly after taking off in stormy weather.

The single-engine plane, a four-seat Cessna, crashed in a residential area about a mile from Cheyenne Airport as the three began the second leg of their cross-country journey. The plane missed a house by some 25 feet.

The plane, which crashed in driving rain, lay near the driveway of a home, its wings and tail collapsed and wreckage strewn across a wide area.

Youngsters have to be at least 16 to fly solo. But children of any age can fly alongside licensed pilots, who may let them operate the controls at their discretion.

Wearing a baseball cap that said "Women fly," Jessica -- a resident of Pescadero, California -- was apparently at the controls on Wednesday when the plane took off from the Half Moon Bay airport near San Francisco on the first leg of her journey.

At 4 feet, 2 inches, she needed extenders for her feet to reach the plane's rudder pedals. She sat on a cushion to see over the instrument panel.

Although her father and flight instructor were to accompany her for the eight-day, 6,900-mile (11,100-kilometer) flight across the United States and back, Jessica planned to do all the flying.

Before Jessica flew this morning, a reporter asked her what she thought about when flying. "not crashing" the child said, glancing at her plane.

Did she worry about that, the reporter wanted to know.

"No ... " Jessica replied.

According to the plans, Reid wasn't supposed to touch the controls except in an emergency. Her father was to sit in the back seat of the Cessna 177B.

Jessica became hooked on flying after her parents took her on an airplane ride for her sixth birthday. She had taken four months of lessons and had logged about 35 flight hours before embarking on her attempt at record-breaking. She was so confident she even spoke to her mother, Lisa Blair Hathaway, by telephone as she revved the engine on the runway.

Hathaway said she heard no word of problems as the three began to take off and ended the communication.

"I beg people to let children fly if they want to fly," Hathaway said before flying from Boston to Wyoming to claim her daughter's body. She had flown ahead to Massachusetts to await the arrival of Jessica and her ex-husband.

Dubroff said he didn't think anybody would be interested in their cross-country journey.  Lloyd Dubroff said, "This started as a father-daughter adventure. It's gotten wonderfully out of hand."

In addition to flying, Jessica played the guitar, trumpet and piano and read such books as the biography of Harriet Tubman and Hillary Rodham Clinton's "It Takes A Village."

"Jessica was 7 years old going on 25; had the world by the tails; sweet, smart, articulate; really aware. She was very excited about what was going on."

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Pam and I got together soon after this tragedy to write.  We were both so touched by what had happened.  One  of the things that Jessica reportedly said to her mother before taking off was, "Mama, do you hear the rain?"  This song was written BEFORE I became a pilot myself, and Jessica may have been some of my inspiration.

This song is, of course, dedicated to Jessica Dubroff, and her inspiring spirit.

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  What an honor for me, that after originally posting this page, I received the following message from
Jessica's mother, Lisa Blair Hathaway.

Hello Jeff Stewart...

I am Jessica Dubroff's Mother. I thank you for writing a song honoring my daughter Jess. Jess definitely loved life and she definitely loved rain and yet most of the media has chosen to do a negative spin on her saying, "Mom, Do You hear the Rain, Do you hear the rain". Jess said this with a beautiful voice as if she were being honored by the presence of rain and she wanted me to hear what she heard and to share in that same moment with her. She was in a perfect moment with herself, with life, with her soumates and yet, no one has yet seen it that way in their communications. How wonderful you have. By being Pro-Jess, you honor who she chose to be in life and all she loved. Thank you for that . . .

All my best to you and what you are up to in life.

Lisa 

Lisa, you just made a couple songwriters very, very happy!

 

      

 

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