A MEMORY

From the 7th grade through high school I played the trumpet in the school band and orchestra.  Except for a couple of performances each school year the biggest part was playing at the basketball games.  That was at Mt. Jordan during junior high school because that's all they had:  basketball. At Jordan High School we would play for both basketball and football.  I, however, do not remember playing at the football games because I was on the team even as a Sophomore.  I wasn't very good at football, but I had one skill that had me playing at least a play of two in each game.  I was a center and my specialty was the long snap.  That's when we had to punt on 4th down or on extra points after a touchdown.  Field goals too, but I honestly don't remember many of those or many of anything for that matter.  I do remember snapping the ball way over the head of our punter once. (I think that that took place at Bingham High School.)  I do remember playing in the pep band for basketball games though.  And I think that I actually marched in a parade once for a holiday parade, but I did not like that.  When I went off to college I took band again and found myself in the BYU Marching Band.  That was way over my head.  Not only did I not play well enough, I hated the formation and marching parts.  It did get me on a bus trip to El Paso, Texas ( and over the border to Tijuana, Mexico)  But it only lasted my freshman year and for some reason I can't remember much of anything about those times except for very small segments of memory here and there. I do remember a guy from Bingham, Randy Brinkerhoff, who played the drums and bought a ring in Mexico that turned his finger green before we got back to Provo, and later turned up  in my same mission in Australia.  My folks had purchased me a really nice, new trumpet, but it actually turned out to have a really bad valve action that made it real difficult to play very well. (Of course my practice habits and my desire had something to do with that.)  I had nightmares about that horn for years and years.  That part of my life seems like such a dream.  And don't believe it when you hear someone say "I will never forget".  Heck, I bet most of you kids can't remember even a small part of your lives.  And you're just youngsters compared to me.