Spotlight: Clouds by Laura Sobiech
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Originally published as Fly a Little Higher and now updated and revised to coincide with the film release of Clouds, Laura Sobiech tells the amazing, true story behind the song and the movie.
“Okay, Lord, you can have him. But if he must die, I want it to be for something big. I want someone’s life to be changed forever.” This is what Laura Sobeich prayed when she found out her seventeen-year-old son had only one year to live. With this desperate prayer, she released her son to God’s will.
At that point, Zach Sobiech was just another teenager battling cancer. When his mother told him to think about writing goodbye letters to family and friends, he decided instead to write songs. One of them, “Clouds,” captured hearts and changed lives, making him an international sensation.
This story is a testament to what can happen when you live as if each day might be your last. It’s a story about the human spirit. It shows how God used a dying boy from a small town in Minnesota to touch the hearts of millions—including top executives in the entertainment industry, major music artists, news anchors, talk show hosts, actors, priests and pastors, and schoolchildren across the globe. And above all, it’s an example of the amazing things that happen when someone shares the most precious thing he has—himself.
About the Author
In 2009 Laura Sobiech was living a very average life. She was married to her husband, Rob, for 20 years, had four children and was working two part-time jobs and volunteering as a firefighter/EMT at her local fire department.
Then, on a gloomy day in November 2009, everything changed. Her fourteen-year-old son, Zach, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of pediatric bone cancer. As Zach battled cancer, Laura blogged about it on their Caring Bridge website.
In May 2012 Zach learned he had only a year to live and, as a way to say “goodbye” to his family and friends, he wrote a beautiful song called “Clouds.” The song touched not only family and friends, but through the help of a team of people who believed in Zach’s music and message, it reached millions of people across the globe.
In May 2013 a documentary called My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech was released on the Soul Pancake YouTube channel. The video went viral and reached over 12.3 million people within months of it’s release. And the numbers continue to grow.
The week of Zach’s death, on May 20, 2013, his song reached #1 on iTunes and made it’s way up Billboard’s Top 100 chart, debuting at #26, and topping the Rock Digital Downloads at #1.
Laura’s memoir, FLY A LITTLE HIGHER, How God Answered a Mom’s Small Prayer in a Big Way, is about her family’s amazing, joyful and heartbreaking journey with Zach through cancer and his incredible last year of life.
Learn more about Laura, Zach and the book at flyalittlehigher.com. #flyhigher
