Tonight our family celebrates an occasion that I thought would never happen. And it's all because of Grace, my second daughter.
Grace was the one who was always on the sidelines as her older sister, Emily, participated in four years of high school marching band, cheering her on. But, no way, no how, did Grace want to be in marching band herself. She was happy with other activities.
But this year, her senior year, her friends and fellow "bandies'' convinced her to join them. She became a member of the percussion section, playing the marimba, and tonight she'll be honored with the other seniors at the school's annual band show.
At 17, she came to realize some things that took me a lot longer to learn. First, time is truly precious, and second, give yourself permission to change your mind.
She learned she would have plenty of opportunities for those other activities but only one last chance to be in a high school marching band. After I got over being shocked at her decision, I was thrilled. As I told you last fall, when I thought my time with the marching band was nearly over, I think it's one of the best experiences that my oldest daughter had in high school, and I'm so happy that Grace is now a part of it too.
And so, with Grace's decision, I've been back where I've been for the last four years, volunteering with the other "sewing moms" to alter uniforms, sew color guard flags and make props. And Mr. Vintage Soul has joined the "pit dads," who organize and load the equipment for each week's show and haul it all out on the field.
We've taken to calling this the bonus year and we're grateful for our second chance too.
Picasso was certainly a beautiful show. This is my first year as a sewing mom for the color guard! I'm researching Fray Check Question. Should we or shouldn't we? When I tested FC on different materials, some fabrics darkened along the FC line and others did not...What is your advise?
Posted by: Liz Dougherty | October 05, 2010 at 01:01 PM