yesterday, her mama, joyce cook passed away after a brief bout with pneumonia. she had a couple of really rough days but she was peaceful in the end and her family was by her side. she was 77 years old.

i'm not sure exactly what to say here. elizabeth just asked me to speak from my perspective and share. so i will first just say that her mama was one of the most special women i've ever known. from the moment i met her i knew we'd be friends.

many years ago when elizabeth and i became friends, she invited me for the first of many times to go out to opry and hang when she was performing. the very first night i followed tom and joyce cook from backstage into the audience to watch instead of watching from backstage. i was so in awe of my beautiful new friend standing up there on that grand stage doing country music PROUD the way it's supposed to be. and then i caught a glimpse of her mama's face. i couldn't help but lean over and ask her 'how does that feel to see your daughter up there on the stage of the grand ole opry?' and she simply said, 'oh. there is just NOTHING ELSE like it.' 

those of you who have had the privilege to ever meet elizabeth's parents probably had the same thoughts and reaction as me. i remember thinking 'wow. there it is. beautiful, honest, real, kind-hearted, FUNNY down home foks' and that, as well as REAL MUSIC was passed straight down the bloodline.

elizabeth's mama was a wonderful songwriter and musician. she WAS loretta lynn without the fame. and that's the truth. i have a 45 record of a very young elizabeth singing a song her mama wrote for her called DOES MY DADDY LOVE THE BOTTLE (more than me). it's the B side to HOMEWORK BLUES also written by JOYCE COOK.

those songs made a regional country music star out of little elizabeth, but the most important thing WAS HER DADDY NEVER PICKED THE BOTTLE BACK UP AGAIN. cause hearing his baby girl sing that song struck a place in his heart that nothing else had ever been able to. THAT'S the POWER of music. and LOVE.

so joyce didn't just write a song for elizabeth to sing. she wrote a soundtrack that would change their lives FOREVER. and she probably did it all while making supper or cleaning up the kitchen.

my heart hurts so bad for my friend today. and for tom cook...my adopted daddy. he always tells people that 'i'm their adopted daughter, we just ain't got the papers yet!' : ) i have never been treated SO KIND as these people have been to me in all my life. they are the salt of the earth.

so here is a place on this blog, that you all can leave your own messages for elizabeth, tim and the cook family. i think it's helped me feel a little better, so maybe it will you too.

i think some of the most important things we learn in this crazy life is from losing those we love. it opens our minds to really take a look at how they lived their lives. the way they treated people and made people feel. HOW THEY LOVED.

JOYCE COOK loved her family with her WHOLE HEART. she was a beautiful, kind-loving, kind of quiet...but powerful woman.

love to you and yours,

chelle rose

P.S. i uploaded a special home demo of Elizabeth singing 'Mama's Prayers'. it gives me god-bumps.

SMITH COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY
c/o Sanderson Funeral Homes
901 Main Street North
Carthage, TN 37030

Obituary can be viewed online: www.sandersonfh.com