Lassiter Guard Alumni
I know you can’t read this letter but in a way I know you are seeing and feeling my words. I began to write this letter for your birthday but when I heard the news the letter shifted. I kept it in letter form but changed my thought process. Do you remember that one time during winter season the Somafours (as we called ourselves – Katie Swaggerty, Jalyn Croft, Gillian Griffin and myself) arrived late to the hotel in Tennessee? We showed up wearing these absolutely dreadful ‘Happy Easter’ hats with HUGE bunny ears. We bought them precisely because it was the season we were dressed as half tortoise and half hare. Slow and Steady was the name of the show. (Lassiter Winterguard 2008). We had stopped at a Crackle Barrel on the way to the hotel – where we were going to have a short rehearsal before turning in for the night. Let’s remember our parents (those rebels – haha) were the ones driving us. Well we found those hats in the little shop area and we lost it! We just had to have them so our parents bought us all hats. We couldn’t wait to show up to the hotel with them. We were so late arriving to the hotel that everyone had already gone to bed. You were so upset with us the next day. Flash forward to Fall 2011, I came back to help with the guard during marching season and we were driving to a competition up 575. Long drive. You were driving me and we were reminiscing about the days I was still in LHS Guard. That story came up. You told me you had a hard time being upset with us long-term because those hats were so funny. We were cry laughing for a good hour! We talked about other stories and how goofy the four of us were. I’ll always remember and cherish that drive with you.
I am just one of the many people that were lucky enough to of known you. You knew me better than I might have known myself, and you knew I was better than I was. Because of you I am the woman I am today. I am forever grateful for that. I will always remember you yelling “ONE MORE TIME” – even though we all knew that never meant just once more - out on the S.T.E.P. field and you banging the bock bock “5, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8.” Thank you for showing me how to be a strong woman and to put everything I can into something I’m passionate about. Thank you for sharing your love of guard with me and pushing me to always be better with everything I do. Thank you for not giving up on us even when we were stubborn teenagers and overly moody and dramatic. Thank you for being you. Michelle Owens (MO), send us smiles especially when days get tough down here. Love you always – keep an eye on us now! Rest in peace sweet Michelle.
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