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When the COVID-19 shutdown first sent San Diegans scurrying into their homes, Marian Howard was worried about her son, musician Alfred Howard.
She was worried because he had already put his songwriting career on hold after nearly 20 years, so that wasn’t good. She was worried because none of the six bands he was in would be working either. Also not good.
But mostly she was worried because the son she loved wasn’t doing what he loved, and no mother wants that.
“When Alfred stopped writing, that broke my heart,” Marian said from her home in Chula Vista. “He loved writing, and he was so good at it. So when he said he didn’t feel it anymore, I was crushed. I said to him, ‘You can’t just give up your gift.’”