Ups and Downs

So yeah these past two weekends have been one crazy roller coaster ride for me. So two Fridays ago I already had my first concert of the semester with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble here at Virginia Tech. We performed for middle and high school students who had come to Tech to participate in the VT honor band that we host here every year. Not only was this the first performance of the year with the Wind Ensemble, it was also my last performance with the Marching Virginians for this school year. The Marching Virginians performed some of the stand tunes and marching shows that we had played over the course of the football season for the audience as well. It was sad that the year was already at its end and that I wouldn’t see my friends in the Marching Band for a while again. However we still had the Bandquet that took place on Saturday night.

Thanks to a VERY generous donation of $100,000 we were able to have our bandquet at the Inn at Virginia Tech. It was really great to dress nicely and see everyone once more before the work for the semester started to pile up. After great food, a funny slideshow, and awards the dancing started and everyone went crazy and started “breaking it down” on the dance floor. Of course the partying didn’t end there and eventually my friends and I were at the “dugout” for more fun. However this fun was short lived due to the events that occurred the following day.

Sunday afternoon I had finished most of my homework I received a text from my younger cousin. Unfortunately my Great Lola (grandmother) had passed away early afternoon. She had lived a full 101 years and I was greatly saddened by her death. Although I had only seen her a few times over the course of my life, I was still shocked when I heard the news. Also her viewing and funeral was to be held this past weekend and due to the timing of events, I was not able to make it to Canada where she lived. Through the whole week I struggled to let my depressed side get the better half of me and affect my studies. Even so, I could help but face the fact that I couldn’t make the viewing. As Great Lola’s first great grandchild I felt a strong obligation to be present for the funeral, if not just to be able to see her one last time. However I’m glad to know from my sister and cousin that all was well in Canada and that Great Lola knew how much I loved her.

Since then I have decided to create a gigantic family tree starting from her and ending with my generation. Although the snow that has covered Blacksburg has been fun playing in (including that amazing civilian vs. corp snowball fight!) I still find time to work on the family tree between my studies, if only for just 5 minutes at a time. I hope to finish soon so I can send it to all members of my family, including those who I have not met who still reside in the Philippines.