Well, it all started on Friday night. I went to pick Jonathan up at 6:45 p.m. Supposedly they got out early, because they had to be at the school early for their Saturday contest in Denton. As it turns out, it was past 7:00 before I saw in band members heading back to the band hall.
I had shown up before 6:45 p.m. so that I could claim a prime parking spot. Little did I realize that I was parked next to James who happens to be the brother of one of my very favorite band members (not counting a certain tuba player).
So, anyway, Faith spotted me as she was headed out to get in her car and gave me a big wave. I jumped out and gave her a hug. I would like to point out to you (and I already pointed out to Jonathan) that while Faith was nice and sweaty from all of her hard work, she smelled fresh as a flower. Jonathan says that is because she is a girl and probably just used more deodorant before leaving the band hall. He said he didn't have time for more deodorant. He was just ready to go home. Faith asked if I was coming to the contest on Saturday and I told her I wasn't sure, which actually meant that I hadn't planned on it, but now I was having second thoughts. I had already told Jonathan not to expect us, but now having a second person ask about it, I was starting to be swayed. If one more person had asked, I would have committed right then and there without talking with Fred.
So, I went home and told Fred that I felt compelled to go to the contest. So, he struck up a deal. Fred loves to strike up deals. It's his favorite thing. He told Jonathan that if they made it to the finals then we would be there. Jonathan was super excited and held us to it.
On Saturday, I got a text letting me know that they made it to the finals. Performance time? 9:00 p.m.! What kind of deal did Fred make? Why wouldn't he just commit to the preliminaries? Tickets were $16, so we got there in time to see almost every band perform. Fred said he wanted his entire $16 worth!
In the Finals, all bands were judged against each other regardless of size or ability. One of the first bands we saw was Atoka (I think). They were so tiny. I think they had 14 band members 4 flags and 1 drummer and he was on a trap set. I seriously teared up when they marched out. I wanted them to be amazing. The guy behind me was laughing and his wife was shushing him. I cried for their determination, heart and guts. I texted a picture to my brother and asked him if it reminded him of his band at Community. I'm not sure that we were even this small my first year and we had the luxury of including 7th and 8th graders. And, we were probably only bigger by about 6 more members. What courage it took for them to compete against a huge band like Wakeland High School. Way to go!
There were some pretty amazing bands competing. All were more seasoned than our band and many were larger than our band. The Knight Band did a great job on the field and put on a magnificent performance.
They came in 7th place behind some very fine bands. Wakeland was 1st and Colleyville Heritage was 2nd. Honestly, Fred and I thought it would be the other way around. They were both outstanding. (In the preliminaries, I understand that we were 2nd in our class and 5th overall.)
Fred and I sat next to the Denton High School band. At first, they were loud, annoying and stinky. I guess all band boys stink. A few used inappropriate words. It was not behavior that I was used to. I have been fortunate to spend time around some amazing youth from our church and school. It is no secret that I just love young people and I ended up falling in love with the row of girls directly behind us. The group as a whole was still unruly, but I loved those girls. They were so in to each and every performance. And, they got excited over every group. They cheered for every band that was competing against them. They would yell, "Nice!!" when they would do something especially impressive or "Alright!!" I didn't notice it at first until I heard the most enthusiastic girl cheering for our Knights. They were on their feet applauding Colleyville Heritage High School.
What a great way to conduct our lives. We can all learn something from those girls.
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