Senior year has been treating me alright. It isn't terribly difficult... yet, however, I'm starting to notice the lasts and I might be over analyzing them, but so be it. Every Friday since school start my high school band has put on a pregame and halftime show for the Seymour football games, none of the games previous to last nights have been what you would call, "normal" or at least not in my opinion. The first one we performed on the track, which was fine because the field was too muddy. The second one I believe we performed normally, however, we did not move for our last song. The third, it was raining so the weather wasn't great which meant we weren't in full uniform, but last night was perfect weather and we moved to all the songs and the field wasn't wet at it was great. Last night's performance was bittersweet for many reasons, many of which the majority of the group doesn't even think about, which is why I say I sometimes over analyze.
Last night a TON of alumni came back, some have come back every week to support us, but for those who have recently graduated this was their first time back. It was great because I know I haven't seen this group through EVERYTHING, but I have seen enough to know that the group did not always have alumni that came back every week, or a student section from both Seymour and the opposing team singing and cheering for us, and to see all of that happen last night made me a little emotional. Many asked why I was crying, but all of my close friends knew, it wasn't because I was upset, not because I was sad, it was because I had this super overwhelming extreme sense of pride. I am so proud of us Seymour High School Band because we have come a long way and we aren't going to stop now. Also, last night was the last time I will perform a FULL halftime show, sure there is homecoming, but we are cutting one of our songs for that. Again, not tears of regret, but tears of pride, proud of everything this group has done, how far our director has brought us, and proud of our supportive alumni and community. It feels great.
We all make decisions in life that we wonder why we make. An example for me is that I have pretty much vowed since my freshman year that I refuse to go to a college that is more than two hours away. I need to be able to come back and support my fellow band members and I owe more than I could repay to my band director and my band family. Last night we were standing around waiting for the clock to tick down for halftime and I had this weird wave of realization, something that washed over me that assured me that this was a good decision. This urge only got stronger because as we walked out the gates of what we call the "stadium field," the entire high school band was greeted with a line of our alumni giving us high fives.
It started as a joke, however, it has turned into a quite serious term... "Band-family." We truly are and families support each other through thick and thin and when members of a literal family move on or get married their family members don't just let go, similarly, when members of our band family graduate, we don't let them go with ease. Nope. They stay in our hearts forever, always have, always will. I love you Band Family, I owe so much to you and I promise to always come back and support!
Keep Calm and Return "Home"
Where ever that may be for YOU!
A.B
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