Monique Flowers sings with John Mellencamp

The daughter of Rev. and Mrs. David Flowers of Whiteville, Monique Flowers, supported John Mellencamp in singing Little Pink Houses in front of millions of people at the Lincoln Memorial and on HBO television Sunday evening.

"It was awesome," Flowers said. "It was really, really, really an awesome experience." Her 50-piece choir from the Brookland Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C. spent Friday and Saturday rehearsing, then hung around backstage Sunday as folks like Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Cheryl Crow, Queen Latifa, Tiger Woods and Garth Brooks came and went. Flowers said that the stars were busy, but somewhat accessible.

"Everybody was excited and ready for something different," she said. "We exchanged hellos with everyone."

Sunday evening was the performance of her lifetime, she said, with a million people in front of them, the future President and his wife standing to their right, and the whole world listening.
Monique will relax the rest of her trip, with tickets for the swearing-in Tuesday and for a special staff ball on Wednesday evening where she hopes to see the Obamas again. And we hope to hear from her again and see some of her photos!