Karaoke queen.

There we were, just like every other Friday night, singing our hearts out at our favorite karaoke bar.

And just like every Friday night, it was the five of us.

There was Ali, with her long blonde hair and steel blue eyes, Shel, with a smile that people noticed from across the room, Skylar the tallest of the bunch and the comedian, and Terry with her shiny brunette hair and sensible ways.

Then there was me.

I have always loved to sing, and karaoke with this crew was my favorite way to unwind at the end of a hard week. There was never a dull moment.

But this night was going to prove to be different than the others. With social distancing and mask regulations, things were already different. We were extremely fortunate to find the last remaining table in which we could all sit together. Then we had to constantly remind each other to put on our masks every time we got up to get a drink, go to the bathroom, or to get on stage to sing.

I love to dance as well as sing, but dancing with a mask on was not going to cut it so there was that.

We were making it work, getting our drinks on, and enjoying our usual ramblings when I felt a presence over my left shoulder. I notice everyone look behind me, so I turned to see a woman dressed in a dark pantsuit with curly red hair and mesmerizing green eyes standing directly behind me.

"Hey", she said with a smile behind her mask. "Would you guys mind if I sat with you? I don't want to take up a whole table to myself and there are no other partially taken ones. Plus, you girls look like you're having a lot of fun."

Now, in my opinion, our group is fairly confident and very friendly so naturally, we said yes.

"My name is Jada." She said with a sweep of her hand. "I am new in town and love to sing. One of my co-workers recommended this place. Where I come from the call me the Karaoke Queen."

"Welcome," we all sounded off, eyeing her wearily wondering if she could really sing or if she was one of those who loved the sound of her voice more than the audience.

'Time will tell' I thought to myself. Eyeballing Shell, I could tell she was thinking the same thing.

Ali was the first in our group to get up and sing and her classic Joan Jett 'I love Rock and Roll' got the audience fired up. I came next with my soulful version of Jewel's foolish game. I saw a couple in the crowd singing along as they swayed back and forth, their arms intertwined.

I love how music connects people. I have always said for every emotion, there is a song. For every memory, there is a song. I have never had anyone disagree with me. Not even people who really aren't that much into music.

Eventually, we all had our turn at singing, and each time Jada would meet us with a high-five, as we came back to our seat. Her turn finally came and when the KJ called out her name we all wished her good luck.

As she reached the stage, we looked up to see what her song choice was and then shrank in our seats as Whitney

Houston's I will always love you, appeared at the top of the screen.

"Oh God," I whispered to Shell. "Another Whitney wanna be."

I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but it just happened so much. People thinking, they could emulate one of the greatest voices of all times and then just getting on stage to scream at the top of their lungs.

People, there is a difference between screaming and singing. If you don't know the difference let me hit your pinky with a hammer. There that is screaming, Whitney, now Whitney can SANG!

So, we steeled ourselves and got prepared to keep a smile on our faces to encourage our new friend to go for it.

The music started playing and her mouth opened, my mouth opened at the same time as did Shell's, and everyone else at the table, and around the room from what I saw.

It wasn't just music coming from Jada's mouth, it was Whitney herself. I started looking at her hands to see if maybe she had a recorder that she was playing into the mic. Nope, her

hands were at her side. The voice I was hearing really was coming from her.

She didn't miss a beat, or a note and she made Whitney proud. The crowd went wild as the last note left her

in a fiery breath. I believe she got a standing ovation from a few people in the crowd.

"Wow," I said as she returned to the table. "No wonder they call you the Karaoke Queen."

"Your too sweet" she laughed, taking a sip of her whiskey. "Singing like that makes you thirsty."

"I wouldn't know" I laughed back, only half-joking.

The rest of the evening was spent talking and getting to know our new friend. We found out she had moved here from NY, having gotten tired of big city living and just recently divorced. She was glad that she found us and hoped she would see us again in the future. All of us are fairly good singers so no one felt lessened

by her voice. We were happy to bring her into the fold and made plans for her to join us the following Friday as well.

As we all put on our masks to leave, I thought about my newfound friend. In this time of ambiguity, it is sometimes hard to stay connected to the ones we are already connected too, much

less finding reasons to make new connections, but tonight we all made a new connection, which gave me hope for the days to come.