Oh Say Can I Sing?

     Each year on Senior Night, the proud parents of the graduating high school seniors are introduced with their sons before the final home volleyball game of the season.  It's a special night for the parents who have been filling the bleachers for four years, and for the senior boys whose only reason for attending school all spring has been so that they could play.
     My son Jesse is a team captain.  He is kind of a big deal.  In addition to being a volleyball player, he is also a singer, and will be studying jazz vocals in college.  He has often been asked to perform the national anthem before the varsity volleyball games.  It's a double header for me; first a singing performance followed by three games of volleyball.
     While I am not nearly as talented as my son, I also was a singer in high school.  Sometimes when we are in the car or home together, Jesse and I sing.  He has a beautiful deep bass voice, and he finds rich harmonies to my melody.  I love to sing with him, and before he leaves for college, I thought we could perform the national anthem together on Senior Night in front of all his teammates and their parents.
     I was pretty sure the coach would love this idea.  This is my second child to play varsity volleyball, so the coach and I have known each other for many years.  Being the captain's mother comes with its own three-ring-binder, and although it's not a lot of work, even if I were a terrible singer (which I'm not!) she knows that the parents would still give me a hearty and generous round of applause.
     The problem was not the coach.  It was my son.
     "Are you insane?" he asked me when I first mentioned the idea.  "Do you have any idea how much trash talking the other team would do if I sang the national anthem with my MOM?"
     I thought he was overreacting, and so I asked my older son Rob his opinion.  He is a very laid back guy, and takes everything in stride.  Rob thinks just about everything is a good idea.
     "Are you insane?" he asked me.  "That is the worst idea you have ever had."
     For weeks afterward, I hovered outside the bathroom while Jesse sang in the shower, and I sang with him.  Usually he just ignored me, but finally he yelled, "Stop auditioning!"
     If this were a Lifetime movie (the part of the lovable and quirky mother played by Julia Roberts and the part of the cool, handsome singing son played by a young John Mayer) then Jesse would see that it doesn't matter what the other kids say, and on Senior Night he would give a heartfelt speech about the people that really matter, and call me down to the microphone to sing a sweet, teary national anthem in perfect harmony.
     But this was not a movie--it was my real life.  So instead, the high school Swing Choir led the national anthem and they were pretty good.  I stood along with all the other fans.  Jesse would not make eye contact with me.
     But when it was time to be introduced, he took my hand and led me out onto the floor.  The announcer said our names, and that Jesse was captain, and then he announced the college Jesse would be attending in the fall.  My son bent down so I could kiss him, and handed me a single white carnation, and suddenly I was crying as if they'd announced our names at the Grammys.