Music has always been apart of my life. I can’t remember a time where I didn’t have a rehearsal, competition, or band practice. My time has been given to music. But, to me, music is more than notes on a page or performing. Music is about the people in my athletic band family that I have met and spent countless hours with, that make music so special. And I know full well that I do not thank them enough, so here is my thank you to you.

Thank you for band camp.

This coming fall will be my seventh band camp and I cannot believe it. It seems like I was just pushing through my first band camp in high school. I love band camp because this is where I met you and our friendships formed. Every cloudless sky, every sunburn, every burning calve, we did it together. Thank you for keeping my spirits high and pushing me to do my best. Thank you for the shared cloud/breeze appreciation. Thank you for taking theme days seriously and dressing up as turtles or crayons. Thank you for getting excited about the season ahead and giving it your all during that intense week.

Thank you for football games.

I appreciate your dedication and hard work. Regardless of how the week was, you always show up, ready to perform and hype up the crowd. It could be so easy to be passive, but you choose not to be. Thank you for being willing to give up your weekend, so we can cheer on the home team. Thank you for all your jokes in the stands and the tunes we never tire of playing. Thank you for spending hours in the heat or freezing cold, just so we can play.

Thank you for marching competitions.

Even though my competitive season had ended, I still remember every second. Thank you for saving my seat in the back of the bus. Thank you for making sure we had a junk seat. The hours we spent on buses just talking, were the best. Thank you for giving it your all during competitions and making the last rep, our best rep. Thank you for cheering on the other bands. We celebrated in every high and worked together in every low. Thank you for giving your personal 100%. If I wasn’t spending my Saturday morning on a football field with you, I don’t know what I would have done.

Thank you for traveling.

From my first trip to Florida to my most recent trip to Memphis, and everything in between, thank you. There is no one else I would rather travel across the country with than you. And we did some really amazing things together. We marched down Main Street U.S.A at Disney World, performed at basketball tournaments in New York and Memphis, and even had people ask to take pictures with us and our face paint. Thank you for experiencing all this with me. And I cannot wait to see where we go in the future.

Thank you for being you.

But my biggest thank you, is thank you for being my friend beyond band. Thank you for the years of endless love and laughter. Thank you for being with me during my highs and lows. Thank you for being someone that I can rely on, no matter what. I am beyond blessed to have you in my life and I don’t even want to imagine a life without you in it. Thank you for being you and all you pour into me.

Thank you for being a member of my band family, those of past, those of present, and those of future. You mean beyond the world to me.