MIAMI – Kennedi Duke, 11, said she was nervous.
Singing the National anthem at Dwyane Wade’s Jersey retirement ceremony over the weekend, her mom Kristin Anderson says she went into a shock.
“I could not feel,” Kristin Anderson said.
It was a dream Duke has had since she was 7.
“And I said, ‘One day, I want to sing the national anthem in front of a lot of people,'” she said.
Since then, she’s been practicing where every she went, even at church where she joined the choir at a Heat game.
“January the 20th was her first time," Duke said. "But she sang with a choir because she they needed a choir.”
Duke got noticed, then came the day where she got the news.
“I checked my email, it was a representative from the Heat," she said. “I was just praying to God that I did not forget the words.”
Anderson couldn’t hide her pride over her daughter’s performance.
"When it’s your child, she’s my only one and I’m just I’m happy. I’m really happy. I’m proud of her. I’m really proud of her.”