That year, the symphony band was invited to perform at the Shenendoah Apple Blossom Music Festival in Washington, D.C. I was really impressed to get to visit the capital. We got to tour the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, the Air and Space Smithsonian, but for me personally, the two places that stood out most to me where Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot and Arlington National Cemetary. At Ford's Theater you really get a sense of standing in a piece of history. The tour took us in the hallway up to the door of the box where the President was sitting the night he was shot. We were permitted to peer into the box and see the chair he was sitting in, still sitting there. The area where the door was pried open a bit to allow Booth access. I couldnt help an overwhelming feeling of sadness at what happened on that very spot so many years ago. We were then taking across the street to the hotel where he was taken afterwards and where he actually died. Likewise, Arlington National Cemetary was also a very emotional experience for me. To be able to stand at the eternal flame at John Kennedy's grave after hearing so much about it was a little surreal. The entire area was kept in pristine shape which also left an impression just how seriously those people that work there take their jobs. The laying of the wreath at the Tomb Of The Unknowns was also powerful, but sad. The honor guard stationed there are aptly named. They go about their task with an exacting routine that would be impressive regardless where it was witnessed. Since we had been there, I understand that the soldier from the Vietnam War that was entombed there was identified through DNA and reburied elsewhere. In my mind, that whole ceremony each time its done every day is for every serviceman or woman who never made it home. They consistenly guard and defend our freedoms here on a daily basis and unless there is a full fledged war going on, most of society seems to forget that.
For the performace we were rated "Superior" instead of "Excellent" which our director took pretty hard. In his constant attempt to accept nothing but our best, somewhere we missed what we were hoping to acheive that year. Our jazz ensemble, which I was also a member of, performed as well, but we never had any illusions of that group winning anything at all. It was done soley as a change to get us out and to play. When we had returned home from the trip, it was obvious that Mr T. was greatly disappointed by the results. Many of us were upset as well, although we of course hid it by joking that we just had to settle for "Superior", what a shame. I dont know about others in my class, but for me personally it left a slightly bitter taste because I knew that we were better then that and I think that as a whole my class wanted to be sure that when it was our turn to be the leaders that we didnt fall short again.
Mr Thomson announced shortly before the end of that school year that he was going to be leaving to continue his own education at Northwestern University. What we didnt realize at that time was that when he left, he would never return as the band's director again and an era in the music department started to come to an end. We had a pool party for him before he left over the summer at home of the one of the students. I had grown a beard by this time (yes, as a sophomore I had a complete beard) and I remember his pointers on how it should be groomed for a better look. That same night I attended my first rock concert, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. That was a great show and a result of being my first ever concert, Petty has a special place in my heart. When Mr. Thomson was finally ready to move a few months later, myself and a few other guys went down to his apartment to him him pack and load everything up. For as hard as he was on us, I hated to see him go. He certainly knew what the band needed as a group in order to excel. I can also say without a doubt that he also knew what we needed as individuals to excel as well. No other teacher in my years of school cultivated the traits in me that would be most useful in life like he did.
I guess that Mr Thomson leaving was kind of symbolic for my life as well. Even though I had only known him for two years, he had an impact on me that exists even to this day. When he left, it was as if I was leaving childhood behind as well. I was going to be a junior shortly and it was getting to be time that I started to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Adulthood beckoned to me from just around the corner. The hard part for me was going to be balancing what would hopefully be a slightly more adult way of looking at life while holding onto my sense of humor.
My sohpomore year of high school was probably the most growing up that I had done all at once. It was definitely my transisitional year from adolescent child to a young adult. I began to understand that everything that is done has consequences. I started to look forward to what was around that corner where the rest of my life was waiting for me.