11-year-old courage + a star spangled debut
When I was a little girl, I dreamt of being a singer.
I worshipped Cyndi Lauper and learned every, single word on my Tiffany cassette tape.
I played it so many times it stopped working.
Belting Disney songs in my room while playing with my Barbies was my most favorite thing...
Singing was everything to me - except that - I wouldn't let anyone hear me.
The second I knew my parents were within earshot I went silent.
I was cripplingly shy.
In middle school, I played the clarinet and qualified for the regional music festival and sat in a plastic chair mouthing every, single word while the chorus kids performed, still too afraid to raise my hand and say, "I really want to sing."
It took until 8th GRADE for me to join the chorus...
My music teacher was wondering where I had been the last 4 years and gave me a solo of Bette Midler's "The Rose" that I performed at our 8th grade graduation.
It was a moment I had waited for all my life...
But I wouldn't pick up a mic again until I was a junior in college and my senior teammates asked me to sing the national anthem for them at our final home game of the season.
I was terrified...
Blessedly my friends gifted me the peer pressure of my own dream and I will be forever grateful for it.
I went on to sing at every single home game until I graduated and many other sporting events over the next decade.
But this story isn't about my voice...
It's about our 11-year-old daughter's and how she was born with the dream of singing, too.
She belts out Hamilton & Taylor Swift songs in her room every night and she knows we can hear her...
At the end of last year she shared that she was ready to sing at a UNH game (my alma mater).
Last month, we got to the gym early for sound check and she immediately wanted to bail.
"You can just do it mom," she said.
She was right...except...I knew she could do it.
And giving her the gift of experiencing herself - no matter how it went - was the grand prize.
We went up in the stairwell, the same one I used to warm up in...and we found her key.
We ran through it over and over.
And when it came time, they called her up earlier than we had planned for.
She grabbed the mic without hesitation and walked out on the court and delivered the most powerful rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" I've ever heard.
Full bodied courage. 11-years young.
Today, she sang at a collegiate gymnastics meet.
She walked out in front of a crowd of hundreds of people this time and sang from her full power.
This whole thing reminded me that our dreams are braided together.
Our acts of courage are never, ever just about us - no matter how long ago or insignificant they may have once seemed.
That little girl sitting on her brown carpet singing her heart out to "Part of Your World" way back in the 80s would one day belt out that same song with her own daughter...
That first national anthem performance was always leading to Anni's big debut and everything that comes next.
Your entire life will feel different when you live from this knowing.
Let the dots connect.
You are on purpose, on path, on time...
How exciting.
And we're spending an entire day dedicated to your dream...IGNITE Your Dream LIVE 2025 is happening!
Save the Date for May 2nd & Click here to save your seat
Will I see you there?
xo
Amber