Reunited

A funny thing happened on the way to the music forum. (Someone should write a musical about that.)

Well, I’m using artistic license. (After all, we artists should be able to do that.) The funny thing that happened occurred on the way to a music gig. But close enough.

Background: I went out tonight, to listen to my musician friend Ed play drums behind some of his songwriting buddies. I was setting up the camera to record the show when I heard someone say a woman’s name. I froze. There can’t be that many people here in town—or anywhere!—with the name Unison. For a minute or two I studied her. Could it be the same Unison I sang with, twenty years ago? Her hair was a different color. But her face looked familiar. She came closer and I realized it was the same Unison! We sang together in college, in an all-women’s a cappella group (before shows like Glee made that popular). She actually recognized me instantly--by name! (She gets the prize tonight because there are a lot more Sarahs floating around than there are Unisons.) We had a very happy, fun-filled mini reunion before the show began. We got on stage and pretended to sing together. It rocked!

 

I have to say: it was really fun using a microphone again. It’s been so long since I’ve been on stage with a microphone. But it felt great! It has been almost 19 years since Unison and I last saw each other and sang together. I still love singing, and in the last year or so I’ve toyed with the idea of making singing a bigger part of my life again. Song brought back together two people once united by music, after nineteen years. I’m giddy about it!

Ed and Unison are both part of a Meetup group for singers and songwriters. So in some ways it’s not the craziest thing that Ed and singing reunited Unison and me. But still, I had no idea where most of the group’s members ended up—probably not in San Diego, I’d guessed, since so many of them moved away after school. So it was a giant surprise to run into someone from those days. I absolutely loved being part of that group and I was quite sad when things ended. Tonight’s surprise puts a happier ending on that chapter.

There’s something about singing that makes life better. It feels great. It is both calming and invigorating. Our a cappella group actually recorded a cd in a sound studio before everyone went their separate ways. I still have it, and I still have the sheet music from our college group. I was so proud to be part of the group. We performed around town and we sang the National Anthem at Qualcomm Stadium before several Padres baseball games. That group was such a special part of my life.

Ed and his friends put on a fun show tonight. It’s live music, and it’s original music, and they rocked. That’s what music is supposed to do: bring people together, and lift the spirit. Who knew that tonight’s show also would bring together two people who used to sing together in the ‘90s? I think it won’t be the last time we sing together. As I drove away from the show tonight, a song popped into my mind: “Reunited, and it feels so good.”