UPDATE
Wow, it's been so long since I've updated. I guess I kind of left everybody on a cliffhanger at the last post, didn't I?
Well, lemme just give you a little in look into how our marching season ended.
When I last blogged, I'd told you that the following Tuesday, October 22nd, we'd be going to UiL competition. It was such an eventful day. We met early in the morning at the stadium, had a quick practice, then came back to school to pile onto the buses and head for Mt. Pleasant. As I was getting onto the bus, I noticed something out of place. Even though it was in the middle of class, early in the morning, all of the teachers and students were leaving the school and walking towards the practice field for the band. That's when I realized. As we pulled away from the curb, with a police escort, we stuck our heads out the windows of our buses, grinning and waving, and some of us crying, at our entire school, lined up on the edges of the road, screaming for us, grinning from ear to ear, and waving like mad. I've never seen anything so supportive from our school in my life.
We pulled up to Mt. Pleasant, and I could already feel the heavy burning lump in my throat. I knew that this was going to be the hardest performance so far. When we'd practiced that morning, we'd gone over Cole and I's duet, which had also included a great amount of Charles on the tenor, and it had sounded so empty. So as I put together my horn, I couldn't stop thinking about how empty it would sound out there today.
As we stepped onto the field, I was pretty sure my heart was going to burst from my chest. We hooked everything up, were introduced, and began. As I ran to my horn in the 2nd movement, I glanced at Cole, gave him a solemn smile, and picked up my horn. As we began to play, it was a little rough, but we continued. I felt my eyes begin to water, performing for the first time without Charles, and looked to our drum major, Heather, who flashed me a huge smile. I had to thank her afterwards, because honestly, that one smile saved my solo, or I would've burst into tears. As we were leaving, even after everyone stopped clapping for us, the Paris Band was standing, cheering and clapping as we walked past, grinning with tears running down our faces at the same time. Is was the most emotional thing I had experienced in so long.
We then took our pictures and as we did, about half of the Paris band came down from the stands screaming, "YOU MADE 1'S! You're going to AREA!" So obviously, the crying began again.
That very Saturday, we performed in Longview at the Area competition. After we played in the semi-finals, we gathered in the stand and waiting for a few agonizing hours for them to announce the finalists. The first performance had gone kind of rough, so obviously, we were all a bit nervous. As they began announcing the top ten bands to advance, we kept our fingers cross. One by one they called band after band, until nine bands had been called, none of which were ours. As tears started to well up in my eyes, the announcer came over the speakers and called our name. We screamed for a good five minutes, hugging and crying and just caught up in the moment.
When we made it back to the bus, we put our game faces on. This was the moment we had all been waiting for. Finals. This was it. It was do or die for us. Mr. Jones didn't tell us what place we made in semi-finals, so that we didn't get discouraged or cocky.
That night we were the last ones to play; they saved the best for last. After we walked off the field, my heart was racing, and I knew that we had done all we could do; we'd left it all on the field. Now all we could do was give it to God. We waited for a good hour before the announcer came over the speakers. "Ladies and gentleman, every band today has been seen as exempliary and made it to the top in the Area, but only three can advance to the elite. The first band to advance to state is...." During that long pause, I grabbed my best friend Shelby's hand, squeezed my eyes shut, and prayed as hard as I could. "NORTH" and that's all I heard, because after that, we were all screaming. We had finally done it. And we had done it for Charles. The North Lamar Panther Band had finally made it to State. After 25 years, we'd finally broken through. I grabbed my best friend, hugging her as tight as I could, as I looked around at my fellow bandsmen, as tears streamed down all of our faces. After he announced the other two bands, we saw our directors and band parents out on the field, beckoning us out onto the field. We ran out there, hugging each other all the way, and practically tackled our band directors. I've never seen so many young men cry in my life. It was absolutely life changing to see the pride, love, and emotion in everyones faces as we made our rounds, hugging each other and crying with one another. We couldn't believe it.
We had two weeks to practice for State, and we practiced hard. Then, 13 days after advancing to State we loaded our bags, instruments, and uniforms, boarded the charter buses, and headed for San Antonio.
The next day, November 3rd, 2008, we pulled up in front of the Alamodome, dressed in our uniforms and completely in awe of the fact that we were finally here. It was the biggest stadium I had ever seen, and I would be playing my solo in it. I was really humbled that day.
At 1:30 that afternoon, we stepped out on that field, once again my heart in my throat. I warmed up my horn, stepped behind my vibraphone, and smiled up at our drum major, ready to do my best. I ran to my horn in the 2nd movement, such a familiar gesture for me, picked up my horn, grinned at Cole, and began playing. Whenever I finished, I threw my horn to Christian, and ran back to my vibes, grinning from ear to ear. I had finally mastered my solo. There had only been one part in the entire show that I hadn't been able to play, and I finally played it perfectly. I couldn't help but grin the rest of the show, knowing that we had played our best.

We placed 9th out of 20 that day, and to tell the truth, I'm not disappointed in the least. We may not have made finals, and we may not have one state, but I can now brag to everyone I know that not did I play a solo in the Alamodome in San Antonio, but I played it with the 9th best 3A High School Marching Band in the state of Texas. One of the best bands in the nation.

But in my eyes, the Award-Winning North Lamar Panther Band, will always be number one.