Tears are such a healing release of emotion. Sometimes, I get so stressed out that all that can help calm me down is a good cry. Other times, I’m so excited about something that I can’t help but cry. Today, there was quite a mix of emotion and so many reasons to cry. Today was Katie’s funeral.
She really was a bright and beatiful young lady. There wasn’t much that was going to get her down for any extended time. She wasn’t afraid to face the issues and she wasn’t just about to sit around pondering how to pitty herself once she figured out some problem she may have been having. She went to work to find an answer to that problem. This is why I absolutely loved Katie Ewing. I see so many people of so many ages sit around finding problem after problem and never doing anything about them. It’s almost as if they want to have the problems. Maybe that’s the way they define life, somewhere in their psyche. Not Katie. When she was diagnosed, she had no problems with going to chemo…unless she was going to miss a game. She made them work around football season - she was a drum major and had those responsibilities to the band. 
Once she found out the treatments were not working as well as planned to shrink the cancer, she decided (and without much back and forth about it) that amputation was going to have to be the choice she was going with. She had stuff to do and she had learned that this was going to be the option that would give her more choices in life later. When the post surgical chemo and radiation were done, she was right back in school. We had UIL Concert & Sightreading contest and she had classes to go to.
And this all continues. One thing after another. And she didn’t make these decisions with any haste, either. They were all well educated and thought through decisions she made. All this between the ages of 17-18!
She would be 20 this coming June. It’s amazing what one person can accomplish and how one person can grow in under 20 years of her life. As the minister said, it really is a tribute to her parents and the others that influenced her life.
So, the tears today were sad - because we don’t have Katie in the world with us anymore. And the tears were happy - because we were able to come together as her community and celebrate what a wonderful person she was. We also all knew that all the pain and frustration of years of this disease is now over. There were tears for that as well.
Katie, you’re more special than words can say. It’s obvious how you’ll be missed. Thank you for being in our lives and showing us that there always is a way and it’s easier to find the way than to find an excuse. Love you, mean it!
According to Wikipedia:
Peace is a state of harmony, absent open hostility. This term is applied to describe a cessation of or lapse in violent international conflict; in this international context, peace is the opposite of war. Peace can also describe a relationship between any parties characterized by respect, justice, and goodwill.
More generally, peace can pertain to an individual relative to her or his environment, as peaceful can describe calm, serenity, and silence. This latter understanding of peace can also pertain to an individual’s sense of himself or herself, as to be “at peace” with one’s self would indicate the same serenity, calm, and equilibrium within oneself.
Pacem is the latin word for peace and if you GoodSearch it, you’ll find there are numerous people and groups who have chosen to use the word to describe what they do or what they are about. I could say that probably the most common use of the word pacem is in the musical title Dona Nobis Pacem.
I have had the honor to conduct a piece that was written by Robert Spittal recently for wind band called simply, Pacem. In my thoughts, it tells a story. It starts out with a trumpet then French horn solos - children playing innocently. From there, more brass are added to the melody and we maybe see these children grow up. As they grow, they see lots of happiness and sadness; and have whirlwind lives. Even in the middle, we find the clarinet solo asking a question, maybe something like, “Will we ever see peace in our lives?”. In the end, they come back together to share all the adventures of their lives and sit together in peace. There is just so much raw emotion built into this piece of music that’s it difficult to put it all into words. If you just sit and listen and allow the music to engulf you for the time, you’ll find a moment of peace within yourself. The more I listen to it, the more emotions I find built into it. An amazingly powerful piece of music!
This recording is not our band playing it at National Concert Band Festival but they were just as good as the group on this recording.
In a world that is so filled with anger and violence, I hope we all take the time to find our inner peace.
My coworker sent this out to local campuses that knew Katie today. I know some of you remember my blogging about Katie as she went through her initial surgery and were always so wonderful about keeping her in your prayers.
Dear colleagues:
Many of you will remember a 2005 alumni of Stony Point named Katie Ewing - a very sweet girl, clarinetist and drum major of the Tiger Band. Her senior year she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her knee and the day after UIL Marching Contest where she played the beautiful opening clarinet solo for “Rhapsody In Blue,” she lost her leg to the disease. Over the past two years, Katie has battled the cancer as it appeared all around her body. She was in and out of M. D. Anderson in Houston a variety of times. She came to visit me a couple of months ago (as she did regularly) and though she looked great and seemed in good spirits, she informed me that the cancer had now appeared in her lungs and she was going to have to return to Houston for a pretty drastic round of chemo & radiation. She was also engaged to be married. Upon returning to Houston, the doctors were unable to do anything due to complications from her already weak body. Returning to Austin, her parents were hoping she could just make it to her 21st birthday.
From what I understand, she got progressively worse and this past week was admitted to Brackenridge hospital. She had to be placed on a breathing apparatus and the goal was to make her as comfortable as possible.
Katie died peacefully last night, Sunday, March 25, 2007, in Brackenridge Hospital.
Katie will always be remembered as a vibrant young lady - dedicated, mature and responsible. She was well-liked and respected by her teachers and peers and was a role model for all who knew her. What I will remember most is that she was always cheerful and optimistic - through everything.
God bless you, Katie.
I will email again with information about her memorial service as soon as I receive it.
Brian Sedatole, Director
Stony Point High School Band
1801 Bowman
Round Rock, TX 78664
brian_sedatole@roundrockisd.org
512-428-7184/fax: 512-428-7846
“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” -Beethoven
I couldn’t agree more with this article about people that seem messy.
I’ll blog for real soon….
So, I’ve put a bunch of pictures on my computer, cleaned up the color in Photoshop and was all ready to upload the first batch in my gallery when I find that there is something funky with my Gallery and it won’t let me upload anything!!! Gives me an error message. I guess I could try to upgrade Gallery, seeing if that helps to fix the situation, but I can’t find documentation that’s not techno-babble to help me upgrade. Why can’t people give technical information in English???? Anywho, if you have knowledge of Gallery and can help me with this, please email me or leave me a comment here. I think something got screwed up in fixing that “virus” message thing a few weeks ago. Maybe I can call ol’ Mark at iPowerweb.com and see if he can help me…. *sigh*
I’ll upload the pics to my web folder and try to blog that way at some point this week, or maybe this weekend, or maybe next month.
