Last weekend, my family and I went to a reunion with some of our closest friends from the Northwestern University Marching Band. It's been almost 30 years since any of us marched in "NUMB," but our friendships, which were forged on the practice field and in the rehearsal hall, have lasted over the years. Among us, we had four piccolo players, three sax players, and a euphonium player. Two were drum majors, and a bunch of us were on the band staff. All told, with our kids and non-marching spouses, we had 17 people in a rented log-cabin house near Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee.
Today, we work in law, pharmaceuticals, music education, and parenting, with kids from 12 to 23. Most of our children have continued the musical tradition by playing in bands and orchestras from middle school into college. They enjoyed (I think), listening to us rehash old tales and swapping "what's he doing now?" stories.
There's something about the time spent together in marching band that truly binds people together socially. It's a lot like being on a team, except it's coed. Right now, I'm making plans for the 2013 season of the Warrior Marching Band, and it's possible we are going to break last year's record numbers. I'm starting to get excited about watching another wonderful group of students come together to form a family of musicians--one that just might create friendships that last for decades.
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