Thursday, July 4, 2002 5:30AM EDT LETTER
A patriotic score
I have never considered myself to be a person who would write something of a patriotic nature, but I guess a lot has changed in the past year. The experience that prompted me to write occurred when a friend and my son accompanied me to a Carolina Cobras game at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in early June.
The National Anthem was announced and a little girl who appeared to be about 9 or 10 began to sing from midfield. She had a beautiful voice but began to falter a little and then came to a complete stop about midway through the anthem. There was no musical accompaniment, so the building, with an estimated 8,000 fans, became overwhelmingly silent for about 10 seconds.
I was fearing the worst -- boos, catcalls, etc. -- when the fans, apparently including those from whom I expected the negative response, began singing at the point where the young singer left off. The volume began to rise and the singer jumped back in and hit her stride. By the end, the arena went ballistic, players from both teams were shaking the little girl's hand and hugging her, and what could have been a traumatic experience was transformed into something unbelievable positive over the course of a few short minutes.
I wasn't sure what I was feeling the most at the time, pride for our country or a sense of thankfulness for the good nature exhibited by the fans toward this lovely and brave young lady. Whatever it was, it was an experience that will be treasured and always recalled whenever I join in the singing -- with renewed enthusiasm -- of the anthem.
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Garner
graphic stolen from lysander13135