Ode to a Marching Band Geek

It's over so fast.  And then time flies.  Suddenly it's 15 years since you were drum major.  11 years since you performed your last marching show in college.  6 years since you watched your youngest sibling march in his last marching show in high school.  Where does the time go?

I look back on my years in marching band with fondness.  4 years in high school, 4 years in college.  Hours spent in rehearsal, hours spent on the bus, hours spent at football games.  Sunburns, blisters, sore muscles, sweat stains, grass stained shoes, three pairs of gloves to keep fingers warm, 3 layers of clothes under the wool uniform, numb lips, 9 minutes on the field, the cheers from the crowd, the music, the marching....it's all adds up to 8 wonderful marching season in my life.  It didn't always feel wonderful at the time, but looking back I wouldn't trade those Falls for anything!

To everyone currently in marching band, don't take one second of it for granted.  It will be over so quickly.  Live in the moment, soak it all in.  You won't be able to be in a marching band forever.  Some of you may work with marching bands, but you won't be able to be out there marching forever.  It ends.  Enjoy the time you have now.  Someday you will look back with wonder at that crazy time in your life, where you literally ran around a football field in scorching heat, wearing a wool uniform, while playing your instrument, aiming it in the direction of the press box, even though your body is moving a totally different direction.  People told you that you weren't an athlete and you laughed at them thinking, you do what I do and then tell me I'm not an athlete.  I've been there.  I've walked that walk.  I definitely marched in your shoes.  I wish I could do it again, but I physically can't.  (Not only am I out of shape, but I spent my senior marching season in college with intense knee pain that magically went away when marching season ended.  I don't want that pain coming back, thanks!) 

I still play my flute and piccolo and will forever, but I will never march again.  It's a time in my life that I will never be able to relive.  So please, enjoy the time that you have.  Drink in the experience.  It's going to be gone before you know it!