Choir Christmas Concerts

I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when I was 10 years old.  Some time around the age of 12, I began to have a dream of singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

All through Jr. High and High School, I sang.  I was even selected to sing in the Texas State Choir, ranking #6 in the state in the Alto section. When I went to BYU, I sang in BYU's Concert Choir, directed by Mack Wilberg, for 3 years.

My singing fell by the wayside for several years, while I worked and became a mom, although I sang in church many times.  I did participate in a community choir a few years ago.

When I was selected to sing in the Tabernacle Choir a year ago, I fulfilled a life-long dream.  And it has been an amazing year.  I LOVE to sing in a choir.  I enjoy singing solo, but I get much more fulfillment out of singing in a choir.  I love the harmony. I love singing with men. I love how everything fits together.  It's like magic to me.

The Choir's Christmas concert is one of the most anticipated community events.  Tickets are offered free through a random drawing process.  But there is great disappointment if you aren't able to get tickets and this year people were actually selling their tickets.  Shame on them and shame on the people who bought them.

So I've been looking forward to participating in these concerts.  It's been a long week. We had rehearsals on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday night was the first night it was all put together and it was so exciting to see it and sing in it.  My family was all there and I was so happy.  However, I went to bed extremely late.

Friday's concert was even better.  It was fun and exciting.  Again, I went to bed late.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling just exhausted...like a train had run over me.  We had to be in SLC at 2p for a recording session and by that time, I wasn't feeling well.  After the session, we were served a lovely dinner...turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, salad, pumpkin cheesecake.  I ate about half of it, hoping it would help me feel better.  I was beginning to wonder if I should just sit this performance out.  After dinner, I went to lay down somewhere during our break.  That helped me feel a little better so I decided to sing in the concert.


Wrong decision.

During Song #4, I felt like I was going to pass out, so as soon as it was over, I was going to leave the stage, but then David Archuleta came out for his song, so I just sat down instead.

And then I retched....and my dinner left me.   Luckily for those around me, my dress caught and kept everything and nothing landed on anyone.  All through David's beautiful song, I sat there bent over, waiting for a moment when I could run out.  When his song finished, another one started and I had to sit there again.  My neighbor kept her hand on my shoulder and from out of nowhere, someone handed me 2 tissues.

When the song ended and the lights went down, I gather up the bottom of my dress, held the tissue to my face, and ran up the stairs and off stage....apologizing along the way to the dancers I passed who were getting ready to enter.  I made it to the bathroom, to cry in humility and call Brian to come and get me...however we live 45 minutes away.

People backstage were so kind....from finding me a pair of scrubs to change into, giving me a bag for my lovely choir dress, to wheeling me in a wheelchair back to the dressing room.  One choir member stayed with me the entire time and even sat in the hallway while I laid on the cold bathroom floor, waiting for Brian.  She helped me to the car, carrying my other clothes and my purse.  She went above and beyond the call of duty and should receive many blessings from Heaven for her kindness to me.  I even received an email from another choir member after the concert that welcomed me to the "Throw up During a Concert" club.  She also said, "You were very classy in how you handled yourself in a very difficult situation. There were very few who realized that you threw up. You were quite amazing."  That made me feel better.

I wanted my first Christmas concert to be memorable & special.  And it has been an amazing experience.  I feel so blessed to be in the Choir and sometimes get overwhelmed by the joy I feel to be singing with such an amazing group. 

Too bad it ended in such a "messy" way.  One day soon, I hope to laugh about it.  Right now, my stomach hurts too bad to laugh.

Here's a picture with David...I'm 4 rows above David's head, on the aisle.  Thankfully, this was NOT the night I threw up and thankfully I was sitting in a different place where I was not as noticeable.