In a way, The Life I Got took a lifetime to compose, like a wine that needed to sit quietly in a dark subterranean room for years until it was ready to be opened. These songs were inspired by the sudden realization of the bounty I had been handed all these years. I felt no compulsion to reach or try to unravel the riddle of life, but only to take stock and express my deepest gratitude for what I was given-- in this case, my wife, my gift outright, who had taken ill at the outset of the project. My beloved Tricia, who stood by my side for almost 50 years, passed from this world just as the album was completed. The Life I Got belongs to Tricia. Love you forever. (Gino Vannelli)