I was up early today and I started vocalizing the moment I stepped into the shower. I could feel some tightness from the rehearsal yesterday afternoon. I wanted to be warmed up for the morning rehearsal with the choir and the service.
As I got ready I got a little nervous for the first time. I usually don’t get nervous but I was. If I do get nervous it usually never has anything to do with the actually singing or audience. It has more to do with pressure and expectations that I put on myself. As I was getting ready, in a spacious hotel room in downtown Decatur, I started thinking about the hotel room and the flight. I thought about the amount of money that individuals – not the church – had paid for me to be there. A lot of money was shelled out for me to sing one song, roughly 4 minutes long. When I break things down like that I started psyching myself out and worrying that I would let someone down.
I continued warming up in the car and headed for the church. I made a quick trip through Eckerd’s to pick up some water. On the way out of the parking lot I hit a terrible pothole and blew out the one of my rental car’s front tires. I was only a couple blocks from the church, so I slowly drove on the flat tire in that direction.
The moment it happened all I could think of was how glad I was that I had purchased the extra insurance. Now that I don’t have a car, I also don’t have car insurance. So, when renting a car, I had to buy insurance as well. I am SO glad I did.
As choir members made their way into the choir room it was like a mini-reunion seeing lots of familiar faces. We ran through the song and it was great to once again be singing. I felt
The service was mostly comprised of music and one song blended into the next creating a really nice atmosphere. As I started to sing, I looked out to into the congregation and saw many familiar faces.
I was surprised and happy to see Michael, Traci and Madeline White there. Also my dear friend Deanna, my Grandmother and many others. It is always a wonderful feeling to look out and see the faces of friends and family members. It is empowering and uplifting. Afterward there were more hugs all around. I hugged Michael and Traci and Madeline lifted up her arms for a hug too. Madeline is about the cutest thing ever. She would always tag a long with Traci whenever she came by the office. She would explore the office and look for the cats but she was never really affectionate toward me – so, needless to say, her request for a hug was warmly accepted.
There was a Dinner On The Grounds after the service and I was able to catch up with my Grandmother and visit with friends (while waiting for ALAMO to come fix my tire).
I said my goodbyes and headed to the airport. Now I’m on my way back to NYC and really glad to be going home. My last trip to Atlanta stirred up a lot of emotions in me, I feel really good about this trip. I’m am happy that I got to come back for a visit but I’m also looking forward to being home….my New York home.
