Me + Miss Patti LaBelle, Part I

Have I told you about the time I sang with Patti LaBelle?

Or, should I say: the several times I sang with Patti Labelle?!… I was a teenager that first time-- the second time I went to see her, I took flowers. I was about 20 years old, she asked me if I could rap. I said:

“No, Patti, but I can sing.”

She gently waved me off and turned around. But then, she turned back to me, asking “Do you sing? Do you really sing?!” And I said

“Yes Patti, I can really sing!”…