Remembering: Singing the National Anthem

“Eighteen dollars —Lord have mercy!”

That’s my mama talkin’. We are in a taxi on our way to the United Center because I
was asked to sing the National Anthem. Tonight I’m singing the National Anthem in front
of… Uh…close to twenty two thousand people which includes a couple dozen superstar
basketball players. I am nervous, terrified and completely insecure about this whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love singing the National Anthem. Hell, it’s been my warm up song in the shower for years. But I have never sung it like this. I’m really scared.

But I have my mommy here from Dayton for moral support.

“Twenty-two dollars!! Damn!”

And we’re still about five dollars away from the United Center!

“We’re here mama, c’mon let’s go. See the “VIP/Press Entrance!” that’s the entrance we go in!

“Twenty eight dollars? No wonder you never have any money.”

Okay, this is not the time for us to analyze my spending habits. I’m thinking that my
mother thinks this should be no big deal, cause in her eyes, I could sing this song or any
song in my sleep! Unfortunately, sleep is something I am lacking because I was tossing and
turning all night as I imagined all the horrors that could befall me: like forgetting the words; my voice cracks on the High C or I drop dead of fright in the middle of the damn basketball court. These are the things going thru my head right now and this woman – my pillar of strength – my moral support – has only one thing on her mind:

“Damn, my feet are killing me!”

We check in. Shery, a Bull’s Marketing person leads us to our seats before I head down for sound check. My heart is in my throat as I have no idea how this one is gonna go. We walk through a curtained doorway and enter the arena. The seating is completely empty. When the stadium is full the court looks like a postage stamp. But right now it looks massive. We take our seats.

“Lynne, Get my book out of my bag.”

“Okay mama, here’s your book.”

“Go do your thing! I’ll be right here reading.”

My mama is fine. I am a wreck! Sherry leads me down what feels like a thousand stairs and we approach the court.

“Lynne, just walk to center court to Dave the sound tech. He’ll give you your
microphone, and he’ll be cueing you when you sing the anthem before the game. When
you’re done with sound check, just go right up to your seat cause no one will be in the house yet.”

I hate this shit.

I finally make it to center court and it feels like I’m standing in the middle of the fucking ocean. I look around at all of the empty seats and that humongous scoreboard hanging over my head. What have I gotten myself into?
To Be Continued…

No part of this entry may be used without the author’s permission.