How Find Me came to be

Jen and I wrote “Find Me” as our very first collaboration, not long after we fell in love. Though it eventually became the anchor of the musical, it was never written specifically for the stage. Soon after, I wrote “Song In My Heart”—partly as therapy, and partly just to process where I was in life.

Then came “Already Gone,” a song whose origin I still can’t explain. At the time, I was wrestling with the emotional weight of my mother’s decline from severe Alzheimer’s, alongside my own prostate cancer diagnosis. Questions of loss, mortality, and the terrifying thought of losing Jen—the love of my life—were constantly on my mind. While my logical brain tries to analyze it, I’ve always felt this song was somehow handed to me. That’s an unusual thing for me to admit, as I’ve never considered myself particularly spiritual, but Jen has opened my mind to new possibilities. Wherever it came from, it arrived out of nowhere, completely unlike anything else I had ever written.

“I’ve always felt this song was somehow handed to me.”

Every time I listened to it, I pictured a stage. I kept thinking it belonged in a Broadway show, and that single realization sparked the story: a tragic love story about self-growth, friendship, family, and making the most of every moment we’re given. How would the lovers meet? Two musicians on Craigslist—exactly how Jen and I found each other. The musical back-and-forth, the eventual meeting in the park… it all fell into place.

I brought the idea to Jen immediately. She loved it, showered the project with brilliant ideas, and became my indispensable sounding board and editor for the script, songs, and visual design. She truly brought the character of Maddie to life, and her song “Follow Me” remains my personal favorite on the entire soundtrack. I would follow her anywhere—my soul has truly found the one.

While our story might sound magical—and our relationship certainly is—the process of writing this show was anything but easy. If I had known just how grueling it would be, or that it would take nine years of relentless rewrites, structural overhauls, and lyric changes, I might never have started. But I did. Now, nearly a decade later, it is complete, and I am immensely proud of it.

What happens next is out of my hands, but that doesn’t lessen the achievement. My goal was to write a musical, and I did it. I hope to see it on a big stage or screen one day, but even if I don’t, I will always carry the full production vividly in my mind. And that makes me smile.

Cherish every moment with those who matter—whether you have a few precious years or a lifetime together. Cherish the moments, and cherish the memories.

Ian