In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Two years later, more than a million people have died in the United States from the disease. To put a face on this number and pay respect to the departed, NPR asked our audience to share songs that reminded them of a loved one lost to COVID-19. What follows are individual stories of those who have passed, those mourning them and the songs that continue to unite them.
My mother was a retired phone company rep who had been living at an assisted living facility with her husband, Mickey — my stepdad — who also passed of COVID early on in the pandemic.
The song that always reminds me and my siblings of my mom is "Clair de Lune." When we were kids, we had a piano in our living room. My mom took piano lessons when she was young, and apparently this was one of the songs she studied. Whenever she had the opportunity to show off her skills, this would be the song she played. For me and my sibs, whenever we hear that song, we think of Mom. —Marjorie Zien, daughter
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