Heidi Korte releases children's song written by niece

A local musician and teacher is sharing an encouraging children's song and video that her niece helped write.

Korte thought this summer would give her the usual time off of teaching to write music and record more videos. However, that all changed when she heard her mom was in the hospital. 

"June 3 I get a call from my dad saying that my mom went to the hospital, and they didn't release her," she says. 

While Korte has established herself in Manitoba, she was originally from out East in Ontario near the border of Quebec. Her parents still live there.

"I felt from the Lord that I was to get home as soon as possible. When I got there I could see that I was very much needed."

Korte's brother, his wife, and their kids all decided to take their mom out of the hospital to move in all together, to take care of her for the summer. Korte joined them.

"As an introvert that was absolutely frightening. I live alone. I'm a musician and children are unpredictable and loud. At the beginning of the summer, I remember grieving the loss of my creative time."

With Korte's new living arrangements, she assumed there would be no time for music or writing. But music found her. 

"We were on this bike ride with the three kids, Elsie who's eight, Gilead who's six, and Eloriah who's four," Korte says about her nieces and nephew. "Eloriah may or may not have been whining."

One of the older kids started singing a little song about 'less crying, more trying.' It gave Korte an idea. 

"By the time we were home, we had a chorus. I thought this could work as a fun thing. I gave Elsie the homework of writing a verse and she came the next morning with little scraps of paper and the lyrics she had written out."

It turned into an encouraging song for children, an anthem to push on when things get tough.

"It was fun for an eight-year-old to see, okay, this song was an idea in my head, and now it's a real song."

Korte will start teaching music to her students again in Manitoba this fall as things return to 'normal,' plus she's writing a book on mental health for young artists.