STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
More than 513,000 people have now died in the United States of COVID-19. NPR is remembering some who lost their lives by listening to the music that they loved and also hearing their stories. We're calling our tribute Songs of Remembrance. Here's Ann Enriquez talking about her mother, Adelia Enriquez.
ANN ENRIQUEZ: I lost my mother, Adelia. And the song that reminds me of her is "Diana" by Paul Anka.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIANA")
ENRIQUEZ: My papa, whenever we did karaoke - we love karaoke - and he would put that song on. And he would, you know, be standing up. He would sing to her that song, and he was really pretty good at singing it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIANA")
PAUL ANKA: (Singing) I'm so young, and you're so old. This, my darling, I've been told. I don't care just what they say 'cause forever, I will pray.
ENRIQUEZ: And he would replace the lyric Diana to Adelia, her name. So instead it would be, stay by me, Adelia.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIANA")
ANKA: (Singing) Oh, please stay by me, Diana.
ENRIQUEZ: My mom would be, like, kind of, like, teasingly would whoop.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIANA")
ANKA: (Singing) Oh, oh - oh, oh - oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, please...
ENRIQUEZ: And my mom just loved music, any kind of music. You know, it has a good beat, she'll move to it. And she was just such a vibrant person. That image of my dad singing this to my mom is like a photograph that will always remind me of my mom.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIANA")
ANKA: (Singing) Squeeze me, baby, with all your might. Oh, please stay by me, Diana.
ENRIQUEZ: I picked up ukulele in the beginning of December, just as a way to have a gift for my parents' 42nd wedding anniversary - 'cause you can't hug them. You can't really see each other. And a week before she passed, we didn't get to see each other on Zoom that day. So the next day, I went, and I sang the Paul Anka song, and I replaced Diana with Adelia. And that really - by far, I could not have asked for a better last time seeing my mom than that.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ENRIQUEZ: (Singing) Oh, please stay by me, Adelia.
INSKEEP: Ann Enriquez singing and playing for her mother. Adelia was 68. You can visit our tribute, NPR Songs of Remembrance, at npr.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ENRIQUEZ: (Playing ukulele).
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