Character Profile: Amy Michaels

Basic Traits/First Impressions

Amy has cleaned the station on a contract basis for almost fifteen years—she has other business clients outside of this and is not struggling financially despite a rocky economy. Her husband Charlie was a firefighter who died four years earlier, and Amy has raised their two sons (Brent is a high school senior and James is a freshman) ever since.

Amy is a Christian, and it was Charlie who originally encouraged her to go to church. Before this, she had a singing career like Whitney (although no one at the station except Jim knows this). Most of the money from this is now gone, but between it and Charlie’s life insurance their house is paid for, the boys have college covered, and Amy has a significant amount in savings to where she could retire if she wanted. Her main concern through the station struggling is not on herself but for the people around her.

Charlie’s death was sudden and tragic (he got trapped in what would have otherwise been a routine warehouse fire), and Amy has been through a grieving process where Jesus has gotten her through it. She still misses Charlie, but she’s at a point where she has peace and wants God to use her to help other people.

Crisis Situation

It is very possible that if this station closes, Amy may never see any of these people again—and they’ve become like family to her. Jim used to go to church with her and Charlie, but he hasn’t been back in almost a year because of the death of his wife Brenda. She feels a connection with Amy because of them both being single moms, and she recognizes her old self in what she sees in Whitney and wants to help her as well.

Resolution/How Character Changes

Most of the change in Amy’s character happens prior to this story, but there are indications that she has changed over time. Her main challenge now is how to handle expressing her faith to people she cares about in a very real and meaningful way. She is also there to show a contrast in responses she gets even though there’s very little difference in what she says to each person. Allison is the most impacted because she’s been looking for an answer. Jim basically humors her—whether he’s going to follow-through with what he says he’s going to do is kind of questionable. Whitney mocks her but comes around at the very end.