Thursday: The Beginning of the End

I'm always surprised by how quickly the Music Mission passes. Maybe it's because we constantly move from one thing to the next: a routine that typically starts with untaping the doors at 7 or 7:30 in the morning and winds up looking at pictures on my phone deciding what to put on the blog the next day shortly after midnight. Most years we set our face toward Atlanta on Thursday, stopping in one city along the way. It feels like the beginning of the end.

Our first concert was at Emerald Place, a memory care facility. They were one of the most welcoming places we've ever sung. There was a sign on the desk in the lobby...

...and a table of treats for us outside...

...and a sign to welcome us that had hand-written thank you notes from everyone on the staff.

It would be hard to overstate the extent to which the staff at Emerald Place went to welcome us. When I talked to the activities director, she told me they had been preparing for about a month. The residents were very excited we were coming, asking every day if it was the day the choir was coming--so much that she wound up making a countdown calendar so everyone could see how long until we arrived.

The concert was outside, where it was sunny and bright. It wasn't oppressively hot, but it was certainly warm. Because of that, we didn't visit outside. They moved some of the audience up in front of the choir for a group picture.

Then they took the residents inside, and we came in to visit with them there. I had a first on this visit when one of the residents asked if our tshirts were for sale or if they were just uniforms. I said they are just uniforms, but would she like to have one? She said yes, so I went out to the bus and got one in her size (I keep a small supply of extra shirts just in case of some culinary calamity!). I put it on her shoulder and said, "I guess you're one of us now!" Jaime (activities) told me she used to be in her church choir, as did a number of their residents, so the concert, and having one of our shirts, meant a lot to her.

I didn't get in to take a picture until we were on our way out the door, but this room was full of delightful conversation, and the youth commented on how much they enjoyed the experience.

After the concert, we boarded the bus and headed for our second concert of the day, several hours down the road. We stopped for lunch in the middle of somewhere, and I went to McDonald's. I'm not too proud to admit that I like McDonald's. I know that's a hot take, and yes, I know it's bad for me. I fit right in with this motley crew.

Also worth noting: the coca cola at McDonald's is amazing, and while I do not drink any kind of soda most of the time, I do drink coke with meals while on tour...and it was delicious.

Our second concert was at the Indiana United Methodist Children's Home. We weren't able to take pictures because of restrictions, but we sang in their chapel for youth who were basically the age of the older kids in our choir. That made this concert hit a little bit differently.

It also created some cognitive dissonance for me that I think I'll be struggling with for a good while...certainly as I start to plan our next adventure. We are highly privileged, singing for an audience that is decidedly not, and as a result some of the lyrics just didn't land well to me. I think they enjoyed the concert. Perry (the chaplain and our host) enjoyed it and asked us to return if we find ourselves up this way again. Reading back over this paragraph, I'm struggling to get into words how I'm feeling, so I apologize for the lack of clarity. I'm going to need some time to process it. We did have a family member come to the concert, so as is our tradition, family makes the blog!

After the concert we headed to the hotel to check in before walking a couple of blocks to our senior night dinner.

Senior night dinner frequently winds up being Italian food for one reason or another. I really liked the location: Buca di Beppo. It's a chain, but it's a cool concept. And they had a space for 63 of us to come in and eat. I forgot to get pictures of everyone at their tables or the room itself. Womp womp. But I did get someone to take pictures while we celebrated our seniors.

These guys leave a big hole in the group as they move into the next chapter of their lives. I've said before that one of the few things I don't like about my job is exactly this moment: the moment they move on. I spend years cultivating relationships with them, building friendships. Every year I have to say goodbye to a handful of people who have become good friends over a period of years. It was especially hard this year because one of those seniors is mine, and our relationship has covered a whole lot of ground over the last 18 (almost 19 now) years!

We also said thank you to our driver, Mark. He's been driving me on these trips for 10 years now...almost half my trips! He's great at driving the bus, but he does a lot behind the scenes that you wouldn't think of. Most importantly, he cares about our kids and takes good care of us all the time.

I mentioned our chaperones before, and I gave them a shoutout last night as well. There's never been a better group of adults working hard to make this trip go. We truly couldn't do it without them.

And, of course, Leanne. Leanne is the very best. It would be hard to overstate her importance to our group. Her professionalism and abilities are second to none, and her care for the youth shows every day. It's a joy to make music and build community with her.

Finally, our juniors (rising seniors) announced the destination for next year: Florida. I'm not sure what that's going to look like just yet, but I'm looking forward to figuring it out!

Quick walk back to the hotel, where we got on the bus for senior speeches. Then we went to bed. Thursday nights are usually pretty late. Door checks take a while on the last night. Early morning for me on Friday as I take a couple of guys to the airport. Then we'll head home.