mr. b's opus

last sunday (father's day) i went to the retirement party/roast of my old high school band director. he retired after 35 years of teaching. band geek that i am, i participated in the "alumni" band and sat for nearly **4** hours of roasts, powerpoint presentations and stories that i just couldn't relate to.

the band was pretty small. maybe 30 alum. nearly 2/3s were recent grads - i was one of the older ones. this was a surprise for him and he got verklempt when he saw us sitting there. it felt good to be directed one last time. very "mr holland's opus."

the rest of the time was spent on a 3-part power point of pictures, videos, stupid stories and hosts that just would not shut the fuck up. listening to this made me i realize that i really didn't know my band director at all. didn't know what kind of music he liked (beatles), that he liked to hunt and fish (i think i knew that but i didn't know he was serious about it, nor did i know he went hunting/fishing with my computer teacher). i knew he was a jokester but didn't know how deadpan he was. didn't know he acquired a knickname since my graduation ("burt", a computer programming scheduling thing). that other kids felt that he was a true friend. he was just my band director to me. a cheerleader during my band programs, but at arm's length. i thought that's what everyone did with their teacher. one of my old classmates was an active participant of the program. this had me a little confused becos he wasn't exactly a big band geek. apparently balling the director's daughter gets you that dubious distinction. when i greeted him afterwards, mr b could barely remember me. or maybe he was just so overwhelmed from the moment.

the program was in the auditorium and it was hotter than hell in there. i guess the school district isn't likely to get air conditioning for that old building. we were lucky - we were near the back door and occasionally would get a breeze. my ass stuck to the plastic seats it was so hot. a lot of people left midway through. my best friend even came and i didn't even get to talk to her. there were a lot of people i wanted to talk to but they'd left.

i gave him a retirement card and gift cert to front street station. wonder if i'll even get a thank you. we didn't even stay for the reception. just grabbed 2 melted cupcakes and left. we'd planned on getting home and changing and i had to go to VBS but it was so late that i just did a quick change and missed VBS and spent the time getting therapy from mumsy.

i think mr. b is the last of my teachers. i think they've all retired.

boy am i old.