Catching up

Wow – these past few weeks have been so full. I haven’t had time to write at all. Josh and I both have had some hardship as well. I’m not even sure where to begin, so I’ll explain in order:

1st:: Marching band camp went really well. The new director is great. She gets the kids “in line.” By the end of the 2nd day, she had them marching so well that I was astonished. Although some of them reverted back to their seemingly uneducated marching ways, most kept using the tips she gave them and have continued improving day by day. The field show is ¼ finished and well on its way to being finalized on the field. The 2nd movement will be on the field by next week (it would have been yesterday, but lightning made us send them all home – nothing worse than tubas and flag poles becoming lightning rods). I am excited about this year.

2nd: Josh’s grandfather died on 8-11. Josh’s mom left him a message at our home and I got it later on when I got there. I called Josh, and by that time, his grandfather had died only five minutes before. Even though Josh was not close to his grandfather, it was still hard for him to witness the pain his mother was going through. The service at the church was very nice.

3rd: One of my very good friends from band, Sgt. Eddie Heselton, was killed in Afghanistan on Thursday, 8-11. He was a wonderful trombone player. He left behind his wife and one year old daughter, as well as his parents and an older brother named Charlie, older sister named Carla (one of my fellow Girl Scout members from elementary school) and a younger brother named Andy (one of my band students up until the year before last). Eddie was such a kind person. In fact, I never heard anything bad come out of his mouth. He was a highly spiritual person who thought pretty much anything could be done with just a little faith in oneself. He had a car repair business with a friend. Today is his memorial service, and he’ll be buried at Arlington. Here is the link to his obituary and picture (which I'll post as soon as I can) if anyone wants to take a look. http://news.greenvilleonline.com/obits/obits.php?content=obittext&id=86176.

The world has lost a very special, talented person. I will miss Eddie very much.