I have been singing professionally for about a decade now, and I have gotten to sing to so many people throughout that time. It seems like each time I go to sing somewhere, there is at least one person who deeply touches my heart. I always think to myself how grateful I am that I got to be in that exact place in that exact moment. I would like to share with you some of those moments, and stories of the people who truly changed my life. Please note, names have been changed.
THE PEOPLE I MEET
MARINA
I'll begin with a little girl I met. I had been hired with my dad to sing at a campground event. There was a particular girl that I met during that performance. Me and my dad had just finished a set of one of our gigs, and as I was grabbing a glass of water and sitting down, a little girl came over to talk to me. We will call her Marina. She let me know that she had just started singing lessons and wanted to sing like me, up on a stage someday. this always warms my heart - when I see kids starting their singing journey.
I was 7 years old when I started singing - really singing. I took my first singing lesson and fell in love with it. I could see that in her. I asked her if she would want to come and sing with me during our next set. She said to me that she gets scared singing in front of people so she could never do what I do. I told her something very true - I get nervous too, even before that very show. She was shocked that a professional singer got nervous too, asking "wait, so like, Ariana Grande gets nervous sometimes too?". I replied "Of course! All singers feel like that sometimes, no matter who they are", which is true. She decided she wanted to come on stage and sing with me, and we would both be nervous and brave together.
We decided on "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen for our duet. She sat beside me on the edge of the stage and we began our duet. As we were singing, the sweetest thing happened. About five or six more children ran up to the stage, sat beside us and sang along. I cannot express the way that warmed my heart. I was sure to let Marina sing Elsa's iconic line "The cold never bothered me anyway".
As the kids were walking back to their families after the song, Marina asked me for my signature, as handed me her little book. This was the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. She thought I was cool and talented enough to want my signature? I signed my name and a message, then I said to her that I knew from the moment I heard her sing on the stage that with that talent, she was going places. I rummaged through my bag desparately searching for a a peice of paper. I had a notebook for a story I was writing, and flipped it open to a new page as I handed it to her and asked for her signature. She took the book to her table and stated writing.
When she brought it back to me, the page had not only her name (written in the most precious, quintessential child font) but also a drawing of me and her all coloured in. This page is still one of my most prized posessions - a little reminder of the sweet girl I met.