Tricia Greenwood—a 15-year resident of Sunnyvale—included these two lines when she rewrote a verse of her song "In Heaven" to reflect her feelings about Sept. 11. The song is featured on her first album, titled Tricia. Greenwood, who is from New York, empathizes with all those dealing with the aftermath of the tragedies that claimed thousands of innocent lives.

"I've never had anything affect me so deeply," Greenwood said. "This is my gift to help mend the heart of anyone who lost a loved one on that day."

Greenwood included a photo of the Twin Towers on the back cover of her CD. Greenwood was in New York 10 days before the terrorist attacks and even snapped a picture of the World Trade Center against the New York skyline through the airplane window during her flight back to California.

With words meant to calm and comfort the listener, Greenwood hopes "In Heaven" will have a healing effect on its listeners. Employing a calm tone throughout the track, Greenwood ends the song on a religious note.

James Robinson, a Bay Area jazz musician, accompanied Greenwood on the guitar and also recorded and produced the CD. Lee Lee Stone provided vocal accompaniment.

Although she has been playing the guitar for 10 years, Greenwood continues to take lessons from Robinson and wanted him to be a part of her CD. Robinson's guitar at the beginning of the song sets the mood, she said.

"The guitar sounds like the player is knitting together someone's heart," she said.

Greenwood wrote the original song after a friend died from cancer 1¹/2 years ago. She gave copies of the song to her friend's family members.

"They sent me letters saying how they listened to it every day," she said. "If this song could affect a few people in a healing way, it might help some of those loved ones left behind on Sept. 11."

The aftermath of the terrorist attacks brought other memories of loss to the surface for Greenwood.

"I lost my mom when I was 15 and my dad when I was 18—and both were taken away from me very suddenly," she said.

The national tragedies reawakened the sadness and grief she had felt during her personal losses. Since she has sung all her life, Greenwood said, she sought solace in her music.

To date she has written more than 100 songs, many of which are in the easy-listening and gospel genres, she said. She is currently working on a full CD titled, Love in Fear, which should be released in May 2003.

In the days following the attacks, Greenwood said, she was saddened by the images of people walking around with signs and photos of their missing loved ones. On Sept. 30, when she saw the still-smoldering debris at Ground Zero and the daunting recovery efforts, she felt she had to do something—immediately.

"At first I thought of sending a couple of hundred dollars, which was all I could afford," she said.

Then the song that she wrote for her friend came to mind. She started to work on her ideas right away.

Greenwood has sent almost 400 free copies of the CD to the media and various organizations, including the Todd Beamer Foundation. She is also working with local businesses in Sunnyvale to display copies of her CD for people to pick up.

Although a whole year has passed since the attacks, the first anniversary is sure to bring a resurgence of emotions, she said.

"I just want the song to comfort people," she added. "Even if it helps just one person."