Later, it became a duet between Lehi and his wife Sariah. Here's p. 1 of my Finale copy. It's been one of the oldest and most enjoyed through hundreds of performances by my choirs.
"WITH ALL THE FEELING OF A TENDER PARENT..." I Nephi 8:37
'Til the day he died in 1987, Daddy was our best audience if we were ever called upon to perform. With tears in his eyes and pure joy on his face, we knew he was in his heaven if his children were on the stage. If our humble renditions took place at home, he'd call it a "programee." If it was after he ate, he'd call it "dinner music." His chair would inevitably rock or shake as he would sob from deep within...sobs of joy...so happy he couldn't contain it...so proud of his children as they developed their talents and blessed his life. 
His dream was to own a huge farm in a pleasant valley and raise cattle. But he ended up running a motel on a busy highway. We'd tease him with a quote that captured it all: "My daddy was a farmer, but all he raised was us." He considered that a compliment. His sacrifices for our growth left to us a legacy of love and harmony, literally and figuratively. His five living children remain to bless his name for it.
Karl and Maudie Mae Thompson, Golden Wedding Anniversary, 1986
There is another legacy left by another father, which has blessed not only his own family , but the whole world. It is the legacy of THE TREE OF LIFE. Father Lehi left blessings to each of his children. Endowed with these blessings, they were admonished to follow the strait course and partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life, or God's love. Only then could they receive all his bestowal.
The most precious gift that we fall heir to is The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, which contains the most complete account of the Tree of Life. I wanted to capture its message in music. I poured into Nephi's interpretations of each symbol so that I could set them with melody, that they might be indelibly impressed upon my mind. But it took me many days to determine it wasn't necessary to include that in my song at all. And, I received no guidance for that desire.
I decided to "let go and let God." The music then came so fast that I had to use large blocks of time to just write it down. It was finished in three days. Its melody wrapped its arms around me as it spoke the heart of the message. I was filled with joy as if I had tasted the fruit, myself.
Daddy, "with all the feeling of a tender parent," you have taught me the strait way. I remember your love for me by the way you treated me, and by the way it was captured in your face. Because of this sweet memory, it is released into this song. Daddy, I love you!
Sisters gather around our parents, two months before Daddy died in 1987.
Shirley, Kaye Starr, Karl, Maudie Mae, Glenda
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