Prayers for David Welch

[Splooie89]

I was introduced to David through the reports from my friend Dave Shaw (for which I am grateful) and shared a few emails with David in the spring of last year. His focus was on trying to spread the word of his disease that he said also took the life of my friend Steve Brubaker. The comments from everyone who knew him are a testament that he's someone I'd like to have gotten to know better.

On behalf of all Cavalier alumni to David's family, friends, and Cadet family we extend our deepest sympathies.

[whitedawn]

david wrote me an email once about getting to walk onto the field with the corps at finals in 2007:

It was powerful to march onto the field with The Cadets at Finals this year. I did so in very symbolic fashion. I know that well. Many generations were with me. The energy was powerful.

many generations are with you today.

godspeed, cadet.

[Colee]

Thank you Stuart, you said it so well .... We were something lucky to have shared the field with David in 1987, and then to have shared his love and friendship ever since. For Holy Name and David Welch Shall Always Be,

Colee

Garfield Cadets Mellophone

1987-1990

I can't get words out right now. My mind is racing and the monitor is blurred through the tears. I think Eric put it best - David was the epitome of what it means to be a Cadet. And not just a Cadet - a Garfield Cadet. He played first mellophone from '84 through '87. If you were around in that era, you don't need any further explaination to understand what that means. If you weren't, then the words "larger than life" come close.

I was fortunate enough to struggle through and be a part of that corps in '87. Part of what made those corps great was that they were uncompromising - excellence was expected. For the mistake prone among us, that uncompromising attitude can have an ugly underside. When you screwed up, you knew it right away - and you better not do it again.

But David was unique. David was as uncompromising as anyone I've ever met. But he tempered it with compassion. Whereas some might say "you better do this, or else" David would say "I know you can do this, because we'll do it together". He always led by example, and was a fantastic motivator because of it. So much of what I learned about life through drum corps I owe to David Welch.

His uncompromising leadership carried through to every aspect of his life, from his schooling to his profession to his musicianship to his disease. When he was diagonsed with brain cancer, he chose to share his struggle with the world in a brutally honest fashion. Check out www.38Lemon.com to see what I mean. David took his condition and used it to raise awareness and support for others, and took it to a very high level. For those of us lucky enough to know David, that was inspiring, but hardly surprising.

I was truly blessed to spend nationals weekend with him this past year. Sitting together at finals, our group was rating the corps through the evening, eventually devising a scoring system based on puncutation. (Phantom won with "!", I had Cadets in second with "&" and Devils in third with "?"). There was a lot of laughter, a lot of love and a lot of drum corps. And that's just how I will remeber David.

March straight and true to victory, dear friend.