Con De Partiro

            I hate that I didn't post yesterday, and I was going to forgo the blog for tonight, but it feels wrong to skip twice in a row, so I'll keep this brief. (However, I do realize that whenever I say that I'll keep this entry short, it just never seems to work out that way, but we'll see what  happens.)
            Unless you haven't read a single entry of this blog until now, you know that I am the clarinet-playing, stereotypical band geek; and I love it more than words can describe. Tonight marked the night of our last concert of the year. While for some this was an event meriting a jump for joy, for others it was an ending. The last concert the seniors would ever play with this school, our beloved director, and the band they've grown to love for the past four years. The last concert us underclassmen would have the extreme privilege to play with these gifted musicians destined for a long and beautiful musical future.
            Most of the band members managed to keep it together through the first several songs. We whipped through the songs: "Rolling Thunder", the cornet's feature in "Carnival of Venice", the classic "West Side Story", and somewhat boring "Simple Song". We got to "Star Wars", fatigued from the forty five minutes we had already spent playing our instruments under the spot lights that make us all feel about ready to boil over. Then it was time for the annual playing of "Time To Say Goodbye". This was a tribute to the graduating seniors that we would miss so much. They stood up at the ending key change, it was very touching. Someone in the crowd yelled for an encore, so we begrudgingly gave them what they wanted, belting out "Hands Across The Sea" at top speed to try to get out of the spotlight. When we were offstage, the tears began to flow.
           Seniors were hugging all of the underclassmen they grew to love and would now miss dearly. Our band director gave hearty pats on the back - which for him is the ultimate sign of devotion and love - to the seniors he had a chance to touch the lives of during their high school career. Some seniors are ready to jump ship to their impending future right away, some just aren't quite ready to say goodbye. Not yet. Things have just begun. But it's time for them to move on. They had four great years, but the next chapter of their life has begun, and it is con de partiro.