Mr. Brooks

I was just about to write this and then decided to read through my feeds before posting, and read my dear friend Shelley's blog and her post about a dear person in her life who departed earth too soon.  It sort of reinforces to me how we all have those people throughout our lives that we may not see every day, or even have seen for many years, but who were SO important in defining the people we are today.

Mr. Brooks was my first band director when I started playing the saxophone in band in 6th grade.  He was a wonderful teacher - approachable and easy-going enough for a shy kid like me to get along with.  A wealth of musical wisdom that he just wanted to share with the middle school students who came through his band.  Always a smile when you saw him in the hallway.

Mr. Brooks taught me how to play the saxophone.  I'm sure that giving music lessons was part of his teaching contract, but I also have to think that his contact didn't cover all the lesson hours he put in with kids, or the help he gave them finding instruments and sometimes even fixing them.  I remember a day in 7th grade when we had chair placement and I finished 7th chair out of 8 that day, and was ready to quit band.  I went to my lesson later that week and Mr. Brooks said that I just needed to hang in there and practice, that I had the ability it just hadn't all gotten together yet.  Thankfully I stuck with it (my mom had some say in that too, thankfully :)

I have been playing the saxophone now for 25 years.  I've been involved in many things, groups, organizations, etc. over those years, but my saxophone has given me more opportunities and allowed me to meet more people and be a part of more important things than anything else in my life.  High school band, college marching band (all the great trips I got to take! and many of my best friends came from there), concert band, and pep band, Rochester Civic Theater pit orchestra, Kasson Community Band, 37th Street Gold Jazz Band, Notochords Jazz Band, music groups at church, playing for weddings, the salsa band and world band gigs I got to be a part of.  And probably more stuff that I haven't thought of.  So many things and people I probably wouldn't have been a part of had it not been for Mr. Brooks and his desire to share the joy of playing music with kids.

I have tried to make a point of telling people from my life that they were important to me, that they made a difference.  I've been blessed with so many.  And sometimes I have actually made the effort to do it.  But not enough.  I hope Mr. Brooks knew how much of a difference he made in my life and the lives of so many other kids.  It's too late for me to tell him that now.  Don't wait "until later" to tell those people how important they were to you.  It probably means more to them than anything you could say or do.