I had one of the most grueling 24 hour periods from Sunday at 5 pm to the following Monday. I had to take my partner to an urgent care facility because she was semi-comatose from not having eaten, and had a rapid heartbeat and a lot of mental confusion. I took her there because she wouldn't go to the ER. Of course the doctor at the urgent care facility called an ambulance and she went to the ER. Because she had no real diagnosis (all test results were normal other than her rapid heartbeat, which she often has because she has a-fib) she didn't get admitted until 3 am, and even then was admitted to the observation floor. I finally went home (it has probably been over 40 years since I have been out that late trying to get a cab - fortunately one of the nurses went out and got one for me as she is used to being out at that hour) but only slept for four hours.
Then it was up, go to her house, feed her cat, and back to the hospital. I stayed there all day and then went home with her and saw that she had dinner. After several meals, she seemed to be better. Then I went home and slept for 10 hours. The good news is that because she was an inpatient, Medicare will pay for her to get home care for several weeks, certainly more often than the once a week she is getting it now.
Yesterday morning I had my rehearsal for the recording and I sang well, which amazed me because when I warmed up at home I could feel how tired I was. Not the voice itself, but my diaphragm and the whole infrastructure. But singing made me feel better and really the only problems I had were with entrances, not anything vocal. And the accompanist helped me with those.
Some bittersweet news was I heard from him that Little Miss (he knows her from the conservatory where he works) has landed a leading role in another one of the no-pay opera groups that rejected me. So she is on the way to being launched. Of course I am happy for her. I want her to succeed, as so few do. On the other hand I would be being disingenuous if I didn't admit that I am much happier now that she is off my turf. There is really only one other trained singer in the soprano section who is there regularly and she does not have the level of confidence or (apparent) charisma that Little Miss has; for example she was genuinely happy that I was going to be singing the top soprano part in the Handel and that she wouldn't be singing it alone. And she is also busy, so for example at the last rehearsal I was, in essence, the only person singing the soprano part in the Mendelssohn, which I am pretty secure with now, although it is still hard for me to sing as softly as required up in that range (and "choir softly" entails much much less volume than "aria pianissimo"!!)
Lastly, I regrettably will not be able to attend any funeral services for my neighbor. They are all in Queens today and tomorrow. I am sure she will forgive me. When the Tenants Association Secretary sent an email about her passing, she gave her a lovely tribute, referring to what an honor it was to hear this woman "practicing her craft". Lani (the singer who died) used to say things like that to me, although very few of my other neighbors have. I wonder if that's the sort of tribute I will get when I die? (I can't believe I am worrying about this!!)
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