Drum Corp International

How many of you know that there are professional drum & bugle corps that tour the country? My kids talk about it all the time. "Mom, I have to stay after school tonight because we have to go watch the DCI perform. It's part of our grade." I nod my head and go "un-huh, when are you going to be home?" Really, having no idea what DCI is or what they are watching. Well this summer, that has all changed.

My daughter, Myshell (pronounced Michelle, have to love those unusual spellings), twirls the flags for her local high school's marching band. She absolutely loves it. I mean it is "HER LIFE!" Our high school color guard practices all summer long. Twice a week, every week, you can find them twirling, throwing, counting and dropping the flags all over the parking lot. Finally, two weeks before school starts, the entire marching band and color guard spend nearly every day, all day long with only stops for lunch and dinner, practicing their new program. That was Myshell's plan for the summer, right up until June 21st.

It was a Thursday afternoon and Myshell pulls me into her room whispering and jumping out of her skin. The color guard practice session had gone to one of the local schools in order to watch the Blue Star, DCI team practice. While they were there the Blue Star Flag Corp Director asked if anyone wanted to try out for the team. Everyone started talking to each other and, since I know my daughter pretty well, I'm fairly confident that she was encouraging everyone to try out. What I do know is that she and one of her friends tried out. The Director liked what he saw and wanted to offer Myshell a spot on the team. There were several problems; money, they were leaving tonight, how was she going to get home?

First of all, we were dead set against letting her go. However, after lots of shouting and talking, we decided to go see the director and find out what it would cost, what she would need and other pertinent details. We tackled it all and believe it or not we made a quick decision and decided to let her go. It was like there was a whirlwind in the house. She could not believe that we were going to let her do it.

How could we say no? She would be on a 7 week tour of the United States, practicing and performing on a National level ending in Los Angeles, CA. It was such a wrench letting our young lady go but what do you do when you having an opportunity of a lifetime?

Two days later, I was helping at a fund raiser for the high school color guard and one of the young ladies asked "Where is Myshell?" When I told her the whole story her jaw dropped and she started screaming, "I can't believe you let her go!" Didn't I tell you that we were dead set against her doing this.

The next week there was a small article about the visiting DCI group and the other Bellevue students that were involved in the team. My husband saw it and mentioned that they forgot one name, our daughter. So, I called the local paper and gave them the whole story. Today, we opened up the paper and there is a lovely article and picture of her.

We still miss her and wish she were here. We also know that she is learning a lot and hopefully will come home with a good head on her shoulders. We know she will come home with a fantastic tan. If you are interested in finding out what DCI is feel free to click the link. I know more about DCI than I ever have before.