We’re in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the weekend even though the festivities of the Indy 500 aren’t anywhere to be seen. Rather, we’re here for The Cavaliers, Earl’s old drum corps, who are competing for the midwest regional championship along with twenty-two other drum corps. I bet The Cavaliers will do well in the end.
Earl has told me more than once that The Cavaliers were the defining activity of his life, and I believe him. Even though he mustered out of the corps just shy of fifty years ago.
The corps taught him to be on time, to do his best, to look the part no matter what it took, and to work as a team member (something that an only child must learn outside the home). Whenever Earl remembers The Cavaliers, it’s with a great pride in his voice.
We haven’t gone to the competition yet, so I can’t say if his former team won or not. And, frankly, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that young men and young women (because some of the competition teams include women) learn the same things that Earl learned.
Even though winning is the greatest thing, it really isn’t whether you win or lose. It’s what you take from the game into real life. Earl, for one, took a lot.
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