As the lights in the venue dimmed, the anticipation in the air was palpable. The once-chaotic hum of the sold-out crowd faded into complete silence. And then, a sound emerged, one that no one dared believe they’d ever hear again: Jackie’s rich, warm contralto. It was a little rougher than in her younger days, but now it carried an intensity, a depth, that was pure soul. She began the first verse of their iconic 1995 hit. When 49-year-old Susan joined her on the pre-chorus with her angelic soprano, the blend of their voices sent an electric wave through the audience, making chills visibly ripple across the room.
Jackie’s handwritten lyrics were propped on the piano—a necessary aid after the stroke that had affected her short-term memory. Then, precisely at 3:12, when Jackie’s voice trembled on the bridge, Susan instinctively added a harmony above—a third note—creating a spontaneous chord that seemed to have everyone in the audience caught in an almost spiritual trance. Mid-verse, as Susan gently wiped a tear from her mother’s cheek without missing a beat, the moment was captured in a now-viral meme, captioned “When God’s Still Writing Your Testimony.”