JimF-LowBari Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Safe journey, enjoy and thank you for keeping our funky activity going for another year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) I believe it takes people who have been around drum corps to know the special bond and family tie that these members experience. What a blessing Drum Corps has been to our family. Next year I'll be out on the road again cheering both my kids and the Blue Knights on. Most of us who read DCP probably don't expect to come across posts that give us a new perspective on life, but your story certainly does. Many who will read your post will probably say that our thoughts and prayers are with your daughter, and no doubt they will be, but our thoughts and prayers should also be with you. Your daughter will have the Blue Knights family pulling for her, perhaps remembering her courageous battle as the struggle, and keeping her in spirit as they march just as she will keep them in spirit. Judging from Gregory Kuzma's book and a vignette from DCI Legacy series, BK is a family, so I'm sure they'll continue to be supportive. However, children do not battle this disease alone. Parents have to make decisions, keep spirits up, and fight along with their child as you already know better than most of us ever will. You also sound like a terrific Mom, and that means a great deal. Also, while 2012 competitions and performances have not yet started, you have already created speculation, excitement, and a fan base for the 2013 Blue Knights. We'll know there's a true hero on the field in the BK color guard, and we'll be cheering her on, even if we don't know who she is, we know she'll be there! Edited May 29, 2012 by Tim K 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rd Glasgow BB Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Also, while 2012 competitions and performances have not yet started, you have already created speculation, excitement, and a fan base for the 2013 Blue Knights. We'll know there's a true hero on the field in the BK color guard, and we'll be cheering her on, even if we don't know who she is, we know she'll be there! Was just thinking this exact same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britbones Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Drum Corps runs in our veins as my kids like to joke. My son marched '97 –'01 with The Blue Knights then aged out with the Blue Devils '02. HE couldn't let go so he's been traveling as a caption head tech for the Blue Knights the last seven years. Last year his dream came true, his little sister (12 years younger) started with the Blue Knights in Color Guard. A brother couldn't have been any prouder watching his rookie sister excel. This year we are heartbroken, she will not be able to compete with BK. She became very ill in December and started Chemo. This has been a very hard blow for everyone but especially her. She's getting better and will be alright but the hardest and most noble thing I have seen her do was keep her illness quiet. She went to the camps knowing there was a slim chance of going but her heart was so in it, she was in denial, as were the rest of us. She didn't tell "any" of her non-drum corps friends because they couldn't understand the devastation she was going through. She thought more of her drum corps family and wanted them to know first from her own mouth, not Face Book. We went to the Doctor the day of the first camp and were told two firm "No's" not this year; the reality was overwhelming. I think we both felt like we got a punch in the stomach. That evening we went to the first camp so she could personally tell her instructors she loved so much and vice-a-versa she was not going to be able to perform this year. She felt a phone call, text, or email was too impersonal nor did it show the respect she had for the people she had given her all to last summer. Silly girl even made the Doc write a note saying he would not let her tour; as if they wouldn't have believed her. A couple of them cried, I cried and she cried. What made matters worse were different people in the corps saw her and ran up for hugs, screaming her name, being so excited but had not yet been told she would not be going. Her energy drained we left and let the instructors tell the guard while her brother told other members of the corps. They announced it that night and the outpouring of support and friendship and love goes beyond anything I could have imagined. They are all a true family! They are in constant contact and are making her feel like she is still there, maybe not in body but definitely in heart. My son says he gets teary eyed when he sits in the scaffolding and looks over at the Color Guard knowing she's not there. She already has plans for next summer. And as she says, she still has 3 more summers. From what I have been told the hardest obstacle regarding drum corps this year is watching and knowing with her heart and soul that is where she wants to be, it is going to be a long summer. I believe it takes people who have been around drum corps to know the special bond and family tie that these members experience. What a blessing Drum Corps has been to our family. Next year I'll be out on the road again cheering both my kids and the Blue Knights on. Wow.... show this family we support her albeit from afar. if i could multiplus this post i would. Everyone show support by doing the same. I would love to know progress reports of this courageous girl. Stay strong. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricia-A BD/BK Mom Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Thank you all for your kind words. I want you to know she is okay and everything worked out no problems other than the drugs. She can't go this year because of the drugs; she has to stay out of the sun for most of the summer as her skin is still very sensitive. As everyone knows drum corps and sun are a given. We held out hope for her being able to go but her doc's said it was a "no way" for that reason alone. I think we knew all along but hearing it made it final. She's healthy and that's what is the most important thing of all. This has been a bump in the road, that is for sure, but she'll be spinning on the field next summer, no problem! As she said, "I have 3 summer's left before I age out." That's the drum corps spirit! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDAMom Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 DapperPoet, I would like to thank you for posting this. My son is in Blue Devils A corps this year as well- his first year with BD but not his first year in drum corps (his 4th year marching thus far, at 18 years old). The difference in his experience this year has been different, just like each of the 3 years past. I, too, have watched him grow up in drum corps- he started when he was 15 in Open Class then moved on to two WC corps before this year with BD. He does feel that he had to work very, very hard to get into BD and it was a goal of his, for personal reasons. He has a great deal of respect for the organization, as well as each of those he has marched with. No matter where a kid marches, what they play or what they do, the drum corps experience is one of learning, growth, and finding oneself. I never actually really got to experience a high school, teen-age summer with my son due to drum corps, but if I had it to do over, I don't think I would have it differently. I see who he is now and I know that it is due to a few key decisions that we made for him- and then, more importantly with that guidance, he was able to make for himself. I ask of each of you that might read this that when you actually go to a show this summer, that you put aside whatever displeasures you might have that day and just focus on the KIDS on the field, putting on the show that you paid for. Think about what they gave up (the fees they paid and summer jobs they sacrificed) to put on the show that we pay for and enjoy. I ask you to enjoy it. I have seen first-hand (as many of you have) what these kiddos put into it and it is really an amazing thing. When you look out onto the field....this is the hope that we have for our future. This is the future excellence of our society. It really is. And Tricia, I admire your strength, as well as your daughter's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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