“These Boots and Me”
Written by Kellie Poulsen-Grill and Dave Grill.
Performed by Buddy Jewell
This song was written in December of 2000. Dave called me a few weeks after Teresa’s Memorial Service. He and the kids had been decorating the house for Christmas, and his friends Dan and Keely were coming over and bringing the family dinner. He called me in Nashville and asked if I would help him write this song idea he had. He went on to tell me that the idea was about a pair of cowboy boots; some of his cowboy boots. He had purchased them in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when he and Teresa were dating. They were up North to attend a mutual friend’s wedding. He saw the boots in a store window and admired them. They were very expensive, and he didn’t think he should buy them. Teresa saw how much he liked them. She said, “You buy those boots, and I’ll let you marry me in them”. It was the first time they had talked of marriage. Dave bought the boots, and that weekend he proposed to Teresa. Of course, she said yes. Dave went on to tell me that after 18 years of being together, he wore the boots frequently. On the day that they put Teresa’s cremated remains into the ground at her burial plot in Dufer, Oregon, the sole on Dave’s boot doing the shoveling broke. The boot sole broke through as his soul had been broken. He said, “I married her in them, and I buried her in them. Well, what do you think?” I was in tears on the other end of the phone. What an unbelievable idea!!! Dave had to go because his friends had arrived with dinner. We hung up, and I wrote the song in less than 20 minutes. It was and is a gift!! A gift from God and Teresa!! It was the first song we wrote together, and it is a tribute to Teresa, so obviously it is very special and sentimental to us. In the studio in Nashville, I was able to get my friend Buddy Jewell to sing it. His beautiful emotional vocal was the perfect finishing touch!!
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