The Heartwarming Story of an Elderly Widower's Heartbreaking Song
When Fred Stobaugh's wife Lorraine passed away earlier this year, he felt he needed to say goodbye one last time.
"She gave me 75 years of her life," said Stobaugh, recalling "the prettiest girl I ever saw."
Like many a heartbroken men before him, the 96-year-old sat down to write his "Sweet Lorraine" a song, but after coming up with the lyrics, the melody, and everything in between, he realized he lacked the musical talent to bring his eulogy to life.
The Illinois-based music production outfit just so happened to be running an online singer-songwriter competition aimed at discovering unsung talent, and Fred just so happened to come across an ad for the competition in his local paper.
Not being entirely familiar with the concept of email, Fred instead went the old-fashion route and sent Green Shoe an honest-to-goodness letter with his hopes and dreams tucked inside.
Touched by the story, the studio agreed to fill in the gaps for Fred, and turn the tune in his head into a professionally produced track.
The entire process was captured on film for the short documentary A Letter from Fred — "a poignant story of life, love and music."
