“Melody As Medicine”

I want to tell you a story about a singer-songwriter who had a dream that her songs would impact the world. They have… but just not in a way she ever expected.

When Emily Cavanagh first heard that people were dying all alone in hospital rooms at the onset of COVID, she was heartbroken and felt helpless. One day, stuck in her apartment in New York City, she thought: “What do you give someone who’s dying alone?” That’s when it hit her.

She could give them a song.

She started cold-calling hospitals, offering to write personalized songs that honored patients and helped fill the silence when families couldn’t be near.

The hospitals rebuffed at first. But three months later, they called back, saying patients, caregivers, first responders, nurses, social workers, chaplains… everybody wanted to take Emily up on her offer. 

Soon, what started as one song became a mission, bringing together artists from across the country — writing from bedrooms and bathrooms to turn raw emotion into something families could hold onto. “The generosity was the through line,” Emily said.

The songs became so popular that Emily formally launched A Song For You Music Initiative/A Song For You Foundation, a nonprofit that pairs professional musicians with families and hospitals to gift custom songs free of charge. In its first 18 months, they delivered nearly 175 songs — stories in melody, built on empathy.

"We try to promote gratitude, not prescribe feelings," Emily said. "We can't tell anyone how to feel, but a song can help people feel seen."

In a twist of fate, the woman who'd spent years helping others soon needed help herself. Emily was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and temporarily lost her mobility from long COVID. For three weeks, she couldn’t walk, and for nine months, she relied on a cane. Emily found herself writing songs for people in the hospital just as she was in and out of the hospital herself.

To make matters worse, her mother, Rose — a special education teacher who inspired her commitment to kindness — was diagnosed with leukemia. So, Emily once again turned to the most important tools in her life — music and service. She wrote a new song, dedicated to her mother, titled "Ro Us All Back Home.” Her mother, who never wanted to be made a fuss over, loved it so much that she wanted a recording… 

…exactly what Emily had been gifting to so many strangers. 

Today, A Song For You Music Initiative/A Song For You Foundation is supported by local musicians and Grammy winners alike, and demand for these life-giving tracks is at capacity.

To meet demand, the foundation is raising funds to pay artists and keep every song free for families. That includes recording its first album and organizing an upcoming benefit concert at a music club called, ironically, The Bitter End. 

Emily’s dream ultimately did come true. Her music is now heard and appreciated around the world… it just happened by making one special song for one deserving person at a time.

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Kindness can even happen amid the fog of war. After the Battle of Germantown during the American Revolutionary War, American troops discovered a small fox terrier wandering the battlefield alone. Reading the inscription on its collar, they were shocked to learn that the dog, Lila, belonged to none other than the man who had just ordered a surprise attack on them — British General Sir William Howe. Rather than keep the pup as a prize of war, General George Washington (a noted dog lover) made a gracious decision: under a flag of truce, Washington had the dog cleaned, fed, and safely returned to Howe. He even included a polite note!

It’s both an example of what dignified leadership looks like and a reminder that nothing quite softens the heart like a good dog.

✈️ After losing one of their passports while boarding a Delta flight, an elderly couple about to embark on their five-week vacation to South Africa were escorted off the plane. Heartbroken, the crew and passengers banded together to find it and forced the pilots to return to the jetway to bring the couple back on board.

🌹 When a cashier at Trader Joe’s overheard a grieving woman was on her way to make bouquets at her son’s grave, he told her to pick out some flowers for herself and offered her comforting words that she would one day see her son again. It brought the woman to even more tears.

🐕 A dog-foster family struggled to connect with a Chihuahua they were sheltering… until they realized that he only understood Spanish. Even dogs have a language barrier!

It's been raining here in LA, and people have been literally calling us to check in. If you didn't know, we tend to get several severe weather alerts when it rains — flooding, mudslides, totally confused drivers (okay, that last one isn’t real, but it’s true!). But as someone who lived in Louisiana, which has some real rain, I saw this picture and thought this guy, Matt Plaia, is the ultimate LA dog dad. I couldn't cosign his dog's high-maintenance life more! 

Word on the street is that Matt's about to be a girl dad, so you can bet his daughter will be the most bundled baby in the city next time it storms.