VIDEO: Daughter of Westerly Shooting Victim Writes Moving Song in Honor of Mom's "Gypsy Soul"

VIDEO: Daughter of Westerly Shooting Victim Writes Moving Song in Honor of Mom's "Gypsy Soul"

Julie Lynn Cardinal's daughter has written and recorded a moving song in honor of her mother who was killed in the shooting in Westerly, Rhode Island in December. 

College student Morgan Bettencourt — one of Cardinal’s four children — wrote and performed “Gypsy Soul,” in which she says, “Mama you ain’t gone, if I can write a song.”

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Cardinal was a trailblazing leader who in 2016 led the fight to force the Westerly Yacht Club to accept female members — and was a beloved member of the Westerly and Rhode Island community. 

“I wanted to do this for my family,” Bettencourt told GoLocal in a phone interview on Friday, saying that she wrote the song “in about an hour.”

“This song was written by our granddaughter for her Mom, our daughter,” wrote Cardinal’s mother Holly on YouTube. “Her powerful words came straight from her broken heart, with enormous love and pain. It is a total keeper and a wonderful tribute to her mother.”

Cardinal’s “Gypsy Soul"

“It’s funny - our big thing was Woodstock,” said Bettencourt, of Cardinal’s love for music — and dancing. “I worked at a summer camp in New York, and we went to visit Woodstock a few times.”

Bettencourt said that Cardinal also “loved” Stevie Nicks.

“She was Stevie Nicks' biggest fan,” said Bettencourt. “You’d always see her dancing and having fun. I can picture my mom in heaven dancing to Stevie.”

Bettencourt, a talented musician, said for now it’s “just a hobby,” as she is currently studying math and computer science in college. 

“I’d written songs prior to this. But my cousin Jason, who worked with me on this song, he told me to treat it like it’s ‘the next big thing,” said Bettencourt. “So I did.”

Future Plans

While Bettencourt is currently at school in Florida, she plans to come back this summer for an internship at Electric Boat — and start a foundation in her mother’s honor.

“Right now, I’m just trying to stay busy,” she said. “I'm starting a scholarship — and a foundation, the Cardinal Foundation. It will be for kids who’ve lost parents with qualities like my mom had. She was a social justice warrior.”

Bettencourt said she didn’t realize at the time “how big a deal” it was that her mom led the fight to force the Westerly Yacht Club to accept female members.

“I was probably too young, but now I know how cool it was,” said Bettencourt. 

And Cardinal knew the magnitude of Bettencourt’s talent.

“She used to brag about me all the time,” Bettencourt said. 

And in her song, Bettencourt shares how she wishes she could still talk to her mom. 

“Can you hear me mama, there’s so much more I want to say,” sings Bettencourt.