MONICA RAYMOND: We saw it on the West Coast, and it really - it crept. I wouldn't say crept. I mean, it felt like a tidal wave. Once it hit, it's just been nonstop since then.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
Monica Raymond has had a grueling time for the last few months. She's an infection preventionist in Burlington, Vt. We asked for songs that are helping you get through this pandemic, and Monica Raymond responded with hers...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PICK ME UP, DUST ME OFF")
CARLETON STONE: Every day, every day, it's never going to be the same. It's never going to be the same as today.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's "Pick Me Up, Dust Me Off" by Carleton Stone. She plays it on her commute to the hospital where she works.
RAYMOND: When I drive to work, I just think OK, what's today going to be like? What are we going to learn that we're almost running out of? Who am I going to hear in the hospital that's died? And I guess at the end of the day when I go home, I just think, OK, we survived another day. And I cry every day, something, you know, - driving home and seeing the empty streets, the weather starting to get beautiful in Vermont, sunny. And nobody's out. And it just - it breaks my heart.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PICK ME UP, DUST ME OFF")
STONE: (Singing) You'll find out, you'll find out everybody's filled with doubt. You got to listen to yourself. Baby, you'll find out...
RAYMOND: Some people, when they're sad and having a hard time - they listen to uplifting songs. And some people listen to not uplifting songs. And I guess I'm one of those people who (laughter) listens to the - maybe they're not so happy songs. But it does speak to my experience.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PICK ME UP, DUST ME OFF")
STONE: (Singing) Takes a while, takes a while to make a man of a child. To make a man of a child. It takes a while.
RAYMOND: I mean, I've been an infectious disease epidemiologist and nurse for 25 years and worked in some challenging situations. And yet this is beyond anything. And it's like we're children again learning. And it takes a while. And that's one of the challenges - is that people want answers. What should I do? How can I protect myself? What's going to happen? And with all of our professional expertise, we still find, sometimes, we don't know what to do in a situation. So I feel very humbled by it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PICK ME UP, DUST ME OFF")
STONE: (Singing) When you fall, fall hard. Someone's bound to break your heart. Pick it up and dust it off. Pick it up and dust it off again.
RAYMOND: Yeah, I mean, that's really for me the key line of the song. And it's basically, you know, life is hard. It's unpredictable. We get our hearts broken. But every day, we pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. And that's how I feel every morning. I get out of bed. And I think, well, yesterday is yesterday in the past. And I'm just - I'm going to go in and do my job and do my best. And kind of keeps me going.
(SOUNDBITE OF CARLETON STONE SONG, "PICK ME UP, DUST ME OFF")
GARCIA-NAVARRO: That was Monica Raymond, an infection preventionist in Burlington, Vt., sharing "Pick Me Up, Dust Me Off" by Carleton Stone.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PICK ME UP, DUST ME OFF")
STONE: (Singing) Setting sun, setting sun... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
