Lyrics Peace In The Valley

A Hospice Attic tradition: Elouise singing gospel and playing piano

Anyone who frequents the Attic knows why, and those who are visiting for the first time might be lucky enough to find out.

Two or three times a week, Elouise Stephenson sits down and dances her slender fingers across the piano keys that have cracked and yellowed with age. She plays expertly and sings with a passion that fills the building.

At 84, Stephenson said her voice isn't what it used to be. She's just happy to still have a voice that can sing.

Born in Leesburg in 1927, Stephenson said she doesn't remember exactly when she moved to Gainesville. She does recall being here when a relative passed away when she was 4.

Stephenson was raised by her grandmother, who owned Kelly's Grocery in the east Gainesville neighborhood of Springhill. She remembered how almost anything could be bought for a nickel in the store and that her grandmother would play "Peace in the Valley" on the piano when it was time for the grocery to close.

Although she never learned to read music, Stephenson said she started playing the piano when she was 9. "I'd always dream I was playing the piano, and when I woke up I could remember where my fingers were," she said.

She has been playing at the Hospice Attic since 2006, when the resale store opened.

"When she started playing, the piano was for sale," recalled Jane Schaffer, operations manager of the thrift store located just west of Main Street on Northwest Eighth Avenue. "She played it a few times and everyone enjoyed it, and so we put it as not for sale."

Only playing and singing gospel music, Stephenson said she often gets requests to play the blues and classics, to which she said she politely declines.

"I don't mix it," she said. "Either we go up there or we go down there. My time is always free for someone who wants to hear the Lord's music."

Shoppers at the Attic don't seem to mind. During a recent performance, six people stopped and thanked her and told her how much they enjoyed her music. Dozens of others stopped to listen, a few took pictures, two hugged her and one asked if he could hire her for a private party. During each visit, she plays and sings for two to three hours.

"We have people calling on the phone to see if she's there," Schaffer said. "They love her that much. She sings, she plays, she cooks, she's an all-around sweetheart."

When she's not playing the piano, Stephenson said she enjoys cooking soul food for anyone who looks hungry. She said she'll offer her home-cooked meals to people she sees sitting on the side of the road, to Walmart employees when she shops there or to the homeless. On this particular day, she brought barbecue chicken and cornbread for the employees at the Attic.

PEACE IN THE VALLEY LYRICS - WILLIE BOXCAR

Well I'm tired and I'm weary but I must goin' on

Till the Lord comes and calls my soul away

Well, the morning will be so bright and the lamb will be the light

And the night will be black as the sea

There'll be peace in the valley for me someday

There'll be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord, I pray

There'll be no sadness, no sorrow, no trouble, I see

There'll be peace in the valley for me, oh yeah

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