MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One song. One message.
"You are not alone."
Amy-Lynn Howson is a nurse from Canada.
Before the pandemic, she traded her scrubs for her guitar attending Visible Music College in Memphis.
“Memphis is near and dear to my heart,” said Howson. “It sounded exactly like what I was waiting and praying for as a place to go work on some things and really take the plunge to see why I have been writing songs for over a decade.”
While on a journey to explore her passion, the pandemic pulled her back to Canada.
“I was redeployed to help out and use some of my old skills to release some of the pressure when COVID was having the third wave here,” said Howson. “I had never seen that many patients battling the same thing in very much the same sort of way I saw the physicians and the nurses trying to literally learn on the fly...The saddest part of all, Brittani, was trying to protect everyone as best as possible.”
With her guitar at hand, Howson assisted in the most caring, sweet, and melodic way.
She sang her song, "You are Not Alone."
“Seeing these patients alone on ventilators, it broke my heart,” said Howson. “That song came out of that place just to let them know that whatever you’re going through, you’re not alone in it. Hopefully, that will give them the comfort and courage to keep going.”
Though not seen, Howson was surely heard.
“There’s a response here. What does music at that bedside look like? I’m really hoping it’s just the beginning of something I’ve been walking towards all my life but didn’t know it,” said Howson. “The biggest response has just been also from other nurses and them feeling seen and heard and feeling encouraged. That’s so rewarding.”