About The Song

    The words for the song "Lend Me your Hope" began as a poem written by Eloise Cole of Scottsdale, Arizona and entitled "Borrowed Hope".

    Eloise was abandoned by her birth parents and adopted into a fascinating but dysfunctional family. She grew up with multiple challenges that tested her ability to survive, both physically and emotionally.

   In 1975, Eloise married a young widower named Elwood Cole who had four teenage children. Two of the four, Mark and Dan, had a life threatening neuromuscular disease and were quadriplegic. This new family of six pulled together and became a tight family unit.

    Mark, the oldest, managed to live off campus while studying at the local University when he suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest and died. While Mark was very ill, he had been considered the healthiest of the two boys and his death was not expected at that time.

    A few months prior to Mark's death, Eloise's father had died. Twenty days following Mark's death, Eloise's mother collapsed and died from an undiagnosed aneurysm. Around the same time, the family dog also died and the roof blew off the house.

     From her experience of living through so many tragedies and at the same time knowing that Dan, who was particularly fragile, could die anytime, Eloise composed the poem "Borrowed Hope".

    At the time, Eloise was supporting others as a grief counsellor. Her son Dan lived five more years and managed to graduate from the local University.

    Eloise became nationally known for her work as a Bereavement Specialist. In the summer of 2005, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and battled with strength and grace for four short months until her death in December 2005. She would often say that although her body had cancer, her spirit did not.

    Eloise knew suffering. She knew what it was to need hope, and those touched by her life would say that she most certainly knew how to lend it. In spite of her battle with cancer, Eloise continued to care for others to her very last days.

    When Canadian singer/songwriter Monica Joy first read the poem "Borrowed Hope", she immediately felt compelled to set the words to music. With a passion for walking alongside those in crisis, she wondered about the author's story, as the poem she received was anonymous.

    When Monica chose to include the song on a recording of her original music entitled "If Everything is Lost", she began to seek out the poem's origin.

    She discovered the author of the poem was named Eloise Cole, found a way to contact her, learned of her story, and marvelled at her repeated experiences of grief.

    Deeply moved by the depth of Eloise's suffering and her ongoing story, the words that inspired the song came to mean even more.

    Monica attributes the power of "Lend Me Your Hope" to the honesty and beauty of Eloise's words and experiences, which she continues to share when performing the song.