When my daughter,
Sarah, was in Kindergarten, she decided that she wanted to audition for a solo
at our church. The song would be for the
Youth Choir’s Christmas musical program.
At that time, I was
serving as the Assistant Director for the Youth Choir. I was concerned because she was so much
younger than most of the kids, but I thought, “What can it hurt?” So, I practiced with her every day to learn
“Silent Night.” We sang it at breakfast,
in the car, and after story time before bed.
We sang it non-stop for weeks.
The audition day
finally arrived. I brought her to church
on that designated Saturday morning in November. I signed her up for an audition slot.
I sat in on all the
auditions that morning as Steve, the choir director, asked one child after
another to come in and sing “Silent Night.”
There were a lot of children who did a very nice job singing such a
tough Christmas tune. Others . . .
weren’t so good.
At 11:00 a.m. it was
Sarah’s turn to try out. Steve and I had
already agreed that I would leave the room.
I didn’t want to make Sarah nervous.
Also, Steve was going to make the decision on whether Sarah could sing a
solo as I might find it a little hard to be objective.
So, when Sarah walked
in the front door to the choir room, I made my way out through the back
door. I waved to her and smiled and then
shut the door. Secretly, I left the door
open just a bit so that I could hear how she did.
Steve began with her
just like all the other children. He
asked if she knew “Silent Night.” She
nodded that yes she did. He asked her to
sing the first verse. Steve began to
play the song on the old upright piano.
Sarah, very confidently, started right up singing loudly, and at the correct
time. I was so excited and nervous. I really did not have any sense of how she
would do. I was proud that she started
without any help. And then, something
went wrong, very wrong! My excitement
came crashing down. She was singing the
wrong notes! It was as if she couldn’t
carry a tune in a bucket, so to speak.
As she sang each word, and line after line, she was as confident as can
be, and as the song continued she sang more and more off pitch. I was embarrassed that she seemed so
unprepared. She had done such a great
job while we were practicing. I was
completely devastated for her. This was
going to be a crushing blow.
When she finished the
song, I could tell that Steve was in shock.
Her audition was horrible. Steve
had known our family for years and everyone was pretty musically gifted. He had anticipated that Sarah would have been
able to sing much better than she did.
So, he did something quite unexpected.
He asked her to sing it again. I
smiled. He was giving her a second
chance. I took a deep breath and felt a
twinge of hope.
Steve started to play
again. Sarah joined right back in on the
same bad note she had left off. And she
sang off-key for the entire second chance.
I was flustered.
I quickly ran from the
back side of the hallway to the front in order to meet her at the front door when
she exited the room. There was no one
nearby, so I kneeled down in order to be at her level.
I was expecting the
absolute worst. I braced myself for
tears and inconsolable sobbing. I knew
she had done badly and it would take weeks for her to get over this
disappointment.
As she walked out the
door, she calmly walked towards me. I
was a bit confused. She wasn’t
crying. In fact, she kind of had a smirk
on her face. I took her hands in mine,
and asked (as if I hadn’t listened in), “How did you do honey?” A massive smile broke out across her
face. She boldly replied, “I DID GREAT!”
I was completely
dumbfounded. Great? She thinks she did great? How was that even possible? So, I rephrased, “You did great?” “Oh yes, mommy, I sang the song great!” I honestly had no idea what to say. At 5 years of age, she had no concept of what
sounded good musically, so I decided not to tell her otherwise. I did not need to be the one to burst her
bubble.
I returned her to the
child care play room and went back into the audition room to assist Steve. We finished up auditions by noon. He thanked me for my time and never once said
a word about how badly Sarah had sung. I
was glad for that small blessing.
The next Wednesday
night at choir, Steve posted a list of all the children’s names who got solos
or speaking parts in the Christmas musical.
Right in front of me, in black and white, was Sarah’s name. She had been cast as the angel and she was to
sing a solo . . . “Silent Night.” I was
stunned. How could that be
possible? I know Steve heard what I
heard, and this clearly made no sense.
But I never asked him
or questioned his decision.
The Christmas musical
was scheduled for two weeks from the next Sunday. Sarah and I rehearsed and practiced and I
tried to help while being totally filled with fear and trepidation.
On that Sunday evening
in December, towards the beginning of the Christmas program, my little 5 year
old Sarah walked over to the microphone from the choir loft and sang her little
heart out. It was such an adorable
rendition. She sang beautifully. It was a miracle! I sat there with tears in my eyes. She hit each note right on!
I have no idea, even
to this day, how she pulled off such a great solo for the performance when her
audition was so bad. Sarah, now a 22
year old, can sing beautifully without a problem. In fact, she is very involved in musical
theatre. Nothing remains of her off
pitch audition that day, except for her confidence. She’s quite a powerful singer.
That special night, she
got up in front of our church, filled to capacity with 1,200 folks in the pews
and sang every single note perfectly.
That night and ever since then, “SHE DID GREAT!”
© 2013 Feeling Good Entertainment, LLC and Diane C.
LeJeune “Tribal Tales”
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