Nurse recreates video singing ‘Amazing Grace,’ at pandemic memorial to honor victims

Registered nurse Lori Marie Key delivered a rousing performance of the Amazing Grace in honor of lives lost during the pandemic, at Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Lori Marie Key has been at the frontline, battling the Coronavirus pandemic as a nurse and it felt cathartic to see Key perform as the White House witnessed a change of guard. Key's shot into the spotlight in April when the country was starting to feel the full force of the pandemic. After watching her colleagues work tirelessly at the COVID unit at St. Mary Mercy Livonia in Michigan, Key sang the hymn Amazing Grace to uplift their spirits, reported CBS News. The video went viral and offered hope at a distressing time when the state was recording more than a 100 daily deaths. Trump's neglect of the Coronavirus was never more evident than during his final months in office when he did little to address the spiking Coronavirus deaths and went on harping about a rigged election. 

Choosing to have Lori Marie Key perform the hymn that offered hope, felt symbolic as Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated as President and Vice President of America. The ceremony honoring 400,000 Americans who lost their lives to the pandemic was held at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and featured 400 lights to represent them. The event was organized by the Presidential Inaugural Committee on the eve of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Before performing the hymn, Key touched upon the trauma of watching the pandemic unfold. "It was heartbreaking for the patients who were sick. It was heartbreaking for the families who couldn't be there with them. And it was heartbreaking for those caring for them," said Key at the memorial. "But when I'm at work, I sing. It gives me strength during difficult times, and I believe it helps heal."

Joe Biden thanked her and the many healthcare workers who put their own lives to fight the pandemic. "If there are any angels in heaven, they're all nurses," said Biden. "We know from our family experience what you do, the courage and pain you absorb for others," said Biden, referring to the car crash that killed his first wife and his baby daughter. "Thank you," he added. Kamala Harris also thanked Key, telling her that the video from April inspired our nation. "For many months we have grieved by ourselves. Tonight, we grieve and begin healing together," said Harris. "Though we may be physically separated, we the American people, are united in spirit, and my abiding hope, my abiding prayer, is that we emerge from this ordeal with new wisdom. To cherish the simple moments, to imagine the new possibilities, and to open our hearts just a little bit more to one another."

Joe Biden paid tribute to Coronavirus victims during his inaugural speech as well. "In my first act as President, I'd like to ask you to join me in a moment of silent prayer to remember all of those who we lost this past year to the pandemic," said Biden. "Those 400,000 fellow Americans — moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We'll honor them and become the people and nation we know we can and should be," he added. Biden said he wanted to take America in a different direction. "My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. And I believe America is so much better than this. Today, we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office, Vice President Kamala Harris. Don't tell me things can't change," he added.