Time to get misty; today is my last day on tour with The Cadets; a wonderful group of young adults, who are working harder every single day than almost any group of people I have ever seen. It is truly jaw dropping what they do every day and the staggering amount of work they put in to perfect their show. If you have read the posts I have made over my time with them, you know that volunteering on the Food Truck is not a picnic, but it is fun and rewarding. You get to work with some wonderful people, parents of current and past members, past members and people who feel the need to help this great organization. They are all great people and working with them is an inspiration to me. The work is hard, the hours long, but the sense of accomplishment and the pride of helping a truly deserving group of young people is what makes it for me. I count my blessings that I am able to take six or seven days of vacation and spend it with The Cadets and my son. As a father, I know only too well how fast my kids have grown. They are now preparing to make their way out into the world. It is part of being a parent that you are destined to see them grow then move off into the wide world. The opportunities to work side by side with your child on something meaningful and difficult is a rare gem to be grabbed with both hands and held tightly. It is a gift to be there to witness my son meeting and mastering challenge after challenge, and I will cherish it.
So we had a long ride from Lynn, MA to south New Jersey and I was tired. I slept through both rest stops and did not awaken until we were about 25 minutes from the end of the drive. We arrived at the morning housing site. We would only be there for a few hours, just enough time to unpack the truck, feed the corps breakfast and repack the truck. Breakfast was simple, waffles and some sausage that is cooked pretty quickly in the ovens. We had a mountain of dishes to do, however. We still had the dishes from snack the night before and all of the dishes from breakfast to do before we moved the truck. We were not sure if we were going to have a water hookup at the next site, PPL Park. I hit the dishes all morning so that they would not have to sit or be done later. We got the last of them done as the truck was being packed by the corps members. Once the truck was packed and all the members loaded onto the buses, we headed to our differing locations: members and staff to Ridley High School and Entertainer, Food Truck and Souvenir Truck to PPL Park. Once we arrived at PPL Park, we waited a bit to get the word on where to setup. Once we had that we setup the truck and about that time, my wife arrived to pick me up.
Kathy and I headed back to the hotel she had booked for us, just 4 miles down the road. She dropped me off and then took our puppy to be looked after by our daughter and her boyfriend. She returned to find me sprawled out on the couch soaking up the A/C and watching TV, something I had not done for 8 days. She brought me some lunch and after we had that, we headed over to Ridley High School to watch ensemble. Later that evening we went to the show at PPL Park. I thought The Cadets sounded incredible, but there were some issues with the props and guard, but nothing that cleaning will not fix. Our daughter and her boyfriend brought our puppy over to PPL Park so that Liam could spend some time with him during snack. I know they both enjoyed getting to know each other.
Matt
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