Song of Kindness

Although I love my life, it hasn’t been a lot of fun being sick for 28 years.

At 16, I had glandular fever and almost died. Later on in life, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and diabetes. It’s like having the flu all the time, and some days I can’t even make it out of bed.

Music has always been a passion of mine and, in my 20s, when my sickness was more manageable, I enjoyed ten years as a professional singer in restaurants, playing and singing ballads. Unfortunately that was years ago and times have definitely changed. Now I live with my mother on a country farm.

Two years ago, I decided that I would need to have some kind of extra work to keep my spirits up and to supplement my disability pension. As I need to sleep in the afternoons, I was limited in my choices. I decided that I would look into going back to singing in restaurants.

My family are all musicians, so I was recognised when I went into our local music store. I explained that I wanted to sing again but using recorded karaoke music. I didn’t have a lot of money to get started and I was aware of how expensive karaoke discs were. Often you find only three to four songs out of ten on a disc that you can actually use.

When I told the owner of the shop about my idea, he gave me a long, thoughtful look. “This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” he said. “Come with me.”

He led me through the crowded shop and to a bench with a large professional karaoke box on it. He placed his large hand lovingly on it and said, “I have 800 karaoke songs in here. You can take your pick and I’ll record them for you. That should get you started.”

I could have cried. Thanking him, I made a time with him to listen to all the songs and choose the ones that I could sing. I have come full circle with his help.

His kindness still warms my heart and makes me do just that bit extra, when I have the chance. My stage name is “Karma” in memory of the music shop owner’s generosity.