I’m at a bar on a weeknight doing karaoke even though I can’t sing.

I’m lonely after growing apart from my college friends and not knowing how to make new ones.

I did some goofy things in the song to make people laugh and distract them from my bad voice. A group of guys my age really laughed and we started talking. I could feel myself making friends.

It truly changed my life. These are friends I’ve had for 25 years now. These are the people I spend Christmas with and they’ll have a part in my life forever.

I did something I wasn’t good at and wouldn’t usually do and ended up with relationships that changed my life. If I stayed home that night or been too self-conscious to participate, I never would have met my friends. And that possibility is always out there. One song on one night turned into a surrogate family.