Cross wrote the song to mourn the death of Denison University college student Laura Carter, who was killed in Columbus, Ohio, when she was struck by a stray bullet during gunfire in a gang war.

[2] Carter, a lacrosse player from Wayne, Pennsylvania, was sitting in the back seat of her father's car.

The lyrics express the sorrow felt by those who knew the woman but ask that she be remembered with happiness: When you think of Laura, laugh, don't cry / I know she'd want it that way.

The song's chart popularity was primarily due to the ABC soap opera General Hospital.

French orchestra leader Paul Mauriat covered the song as its instrumental rendition on his 1984 album The Seven Seas.