Yesterday, The Middle Child auditioned for musical.  I think that sentence should have read: Yesterday, The Middle Child auditioned for the musical.  The spring performance at The Middle Child’s school (and also that of Mini Me) is always a musical, and is simply referred to as musical until they (whoever they are) decide which musical is going to be performed.  Sometimes, auditions for musical begin prior to this decision being made.  Anyway, as I was saying, yesterday, The Middle Child auditioned for musical, and, according to her, she bombed it.  She was not crying when she got home.  She said that her monologue went fine.  “What was the problem, then?” I asked, wondering what the hell could have possibly gone wrong.  “My voice cracked in two major places,” she replied, her face heating up.  My heart sank for her.   I wanted to cry for her.  She had worked so hard on her audition piece with her voice teacher.  She was more than ready.  “You know what? They KNOW you can sing.  You do not need to worry about this.  You gave it your best shot.”  I said.  Of course that did not help.  I knew that nothing I could possibly say was going to help.  She let me think that it helped, because that is who The Middle Child is.  I let her go upstairs.  My mother in law had brought her home for me.  She and I analyzed the situation to death, trying to make ourselves feel better.  It did not work.  My mother in law left.  I went upstairs to check on The Middle Child.  She said she was fine.  I gave her a hug.   I sat down on her bed and put my arm around her.  She never did cry–or at least she never let me see her cry.  This kid.  The things this kid has done! I cannot even begin to compete, myself! And I was the one who wanted to be a movie star! I could not even get more than a C in drama in high school because I was too shy to get up and play charades in front of the class!  Well, there really is more to that story.  There was this girl who unzipped my pants that zipped up the back…they were kind of like harem pants.  They were really cool pants from this store in Athens. So this girl unzipped my pants and when it was my turn to get up and play charades, the whole class got to see that my pants were unzipped in the back.  And everybody laughed.  And I thought I would die.  Wait.  Stop.  Put your tiny violin away.  This story  is not about me.  I let The Middle Child study for her science test.  I happened to be upstairs when I heard Mini Me come in from the gym.  He must have remembered that The Middle Child had auditioned for musical, because he came running up to her room.  I heard him ask her how it went.  I cringed when I heard her tell him she bombed it.  “What do you mean?” he asked her.  I listened as she described what had happened.  Then I heard the most beautiful words I had ever heard come out of Mini Me’s mouth.  “Oh MY GOD! Eliza! Please! They know you can sing! Do NOT let that bother you at all! Let being an eighth grader worry you, but don’t let that worry you!”  It was basically the exact same thing I had said to her earlier, but I knew that she might actually hear it coming from Mini Me.  I wanted to give him a great big hug, but I knew that would not really be welcomed…..Anyway. I was not really supposed to be listening to this conversation in the first place.  I kept minding my own beeswax and Mini Me went back downstairs.  I walked back into The Middle Child’s room.  “Did anyone else have a resumé?” I asked her.  She and I had stayed up the night before, preparing a head shot resumé for her to take to her audition.  “Not that I saw,” she said, “they said it looked very professional.”  Well, at least there was that!  The resumé was not a requirement, but I knew that it would make a statement.  When I began listing her performances and accomplishments, I was shocked.  This Kid.  This 14 year old kid has a resumé that will make some Hollywood professionals look not so professional!  I don’t care if she is in the eighth grade or not.  She has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.  So what if her voice cracked? Some days your voice might crack, some days it might not!  This child, My child, The Middle Child,  has the voice of an angel.  Sorry.  It’s not really bragging if it’s the God’s honest truth, and it is.  She has a gift.  It is a gift that I do not have.  It’s a gift that not too many people have.   I think that she is going to go very, very far–regardless of whatever happens with musical.  I can only hope to ride her coat tails for as long as she will let me.