Honor the Past by Taking Time to Remember

by Drew Holmes

Left to right: Ted Haines, Drew Holmes, Dan Lasdow. Ted and Dan are the first two of the four trumpet teachers Drew has ever had.

The last week of school is always a bittersweet time of year. Owning a music store, my business is cyclical and strongly tied to the school year. The mixed emotions of excitement for the future and anxiousness from change is always most acute this time of the year. It can feel a bit like a boat drifting without an anchor.

In 2013 I had an experience that was not only the end of the school year, but also the end of the school. My high school was being replaced with a new building, and before the old school was torn down there would be one final concert. To my delight, alumni were invited to participate. When I found out that Dan Lasdow, my high school band director (and my first trumpet teacher), would not only be there but guest conducting knew I had to participate.

The logistics of traveling back to Massachusetts were manageable and I had been practicing my trumpet regularly, so I was ready to play. Programmed on the concert was the “Variations on a Korean Folk Song” which I had played under Mr. L years before. One of my favorite trumpet solos is in that piece so, in true trumpet player fashion, I lobbied successfully to play it in the performance.

The concert was amazing! To be in an ensemble with former classmates and teachers is an experience I will never forget.

My past came alive all around me by performing on that stage one last time with friends and teachers, some of whom I had not seen since graduation. But it was as if no time had passed.

The experience was a true celebration of who we all had been and become. It is important to take time to remember the experiences that have led you to who and where you are. A great amount of confidence comes from knowing the anchor of memory is there to drop whenever needed.

This most unusual school year is now in our past. While there is plenty we would like to forget, there is a lot of good to remember as well. When we take the time to reflect the past is kept alive in us. My high school is no longer there, but I can go back there anytime in my memories and rediscover what has made me who I am. And because of that it will never really be gone.