Save a Place For Me

Album: Something to Say (2008)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from American Contemporary Christian musician Matthew West's third studio album, Something to Say. West blogged on his website the story behind this song: "She can't speak. Not anymore. The stroke she suffered took that way. She can't walk. Her 86 years of life have left her paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. She is my grandmother, Luella Jane West. Five years ago, the doctors told the family she wasn't going to make it. I remember getting the phone call from my dad. I remember the trip to Iowa. I remember the hospital room. I remember saying goodbye.

    My family cried, laughed, and cried some more in the waiting room of the hospital as we remembered and celebrated her life. And it truly was a life worth celebrating. Grandma was a mother of ten children who loved God with all her heart, and believed in the power of prayer. I will always remember cards and letters she would send me. They were filled with encouraging words and scriptures to live by. I will not soon forget her example of how to live a life that really says something.

    What my family didn't expect was exactly what happened. Five years later, my grandmother has defied the doctors and is still with us. And though she has lost her voice, her life still speaks. Today, there is another Luella Jane West here with us. She is my daughter. And you should see Grandma's eyes light up when she sees her namesake! Someday when Lulu asks about her name, I will be proud to tell her about a life that had something to say.

    I know that my grandmother won't be here much longer. She knows it too. So, this song is dedicated to her. Celebrating a life while it is still being lived. I read a recent interview with Billy Graham in Newsweek that summed up the heart behind 'Save a Place for Me.' When asked about the passing of his wife, Rev. Graham said, 'I know God has prepared a home for her in Heaven. I just hope she saves a room for me.'"
  • The song's music video, which was filmed in Nashville and produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, portrays both the burden of loss as well as joy found in the hope of Heaven. West explained, "I wanted the video to tell the story beyond my own personal experience of losing a loved one. One setting in particular captures the sentiment of the song so well. There is a memorial wall, and all these different people are walking up to the wall, placing pictures on the wall, leaving flowers, saying a prayer, and remembering someone they've lost. I get chills just writing about it. I hope the video and the story it tells will enhance the emotion of the song when people see it, both the sadness and the hope of Heaven."

Comments: 1

  • Me from North Carolina I lost my husband 3 years ago and my life has been turned upside down. He is in a much greater place. I just can't seem to figure out how to live life without him. I love this song!!! It speaks in so many ways.
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