Outfit 48: In loving memory

The Hawaiian shirt is my dad's- I'll talk about the other
pieces of the outfit when they come up again in later
posts. You'll see I added my own flair with my belt
though :)

I could have sworn I was at least past outfit 50 when I stopped... nope! Well, today I plan to write 3 posts to catch up and hopefully jump start me for next week. Before I jump in to this outfit, I want to thank those of you who read this and encourage me to keep posting - to be honest, I forget things if they're not right in front of me so having other people remind me of what I'm supposed to be doing is great! Thank you!!!

I'm backtracking a couple weeks with this outfit, this time not for the thriftiness of it, but rather the story. I've been a member of Welborne United Methodist church since I was 3 or 4 (at least, that's what my parents tell me) and it wasn't long before I was singing frequently. My first solo was when I was 8, and I sang a song in front of the congregation that was composed by another church member. I still remember some of it. Fast forward a few years, and I was singing with the praise band alongside my dad to lead worship on Sunday mornings. When I was in high school, we would have band practices Saturday morning for a few hours, and we'd have anywhere from 3 to 10 musicians, depending on the week. It was so fun! I learned so much more about performing, rhythm, and music in general that I didn't get from my piano lessons or years of chorus. Since then though, most of the original band members moved on to other things, and the couple of other people my age left when they left for college, so it's become much smaller. While things have changed quite a bit since high school, and I don't live in Richmond anymore, whenever I come home for the weekend I still join my dad on Sunday mornings.

Our praise band in 2007, Owen, David, my dad, Buck in the back, and Wayne, Wesley, me, Tom and Tom in the front. (L-R)

So, why is this relevant? Well, a few weeks ago one of our original band members, David, passed away. I knew that he hadn't been healthy, but to get a voicemail that says someone you knew died is never an easy thing, no matter what preparation you have. And it was more sudden than not, so it hit me pretty hard. David had played in the praise band for years- and he always had a smile on his face and just loved the music! He brought such a positive energy to the band, though sometimes he would try to insert rock guitar riffs into the worship music, and our band practices would take a different turn. I will never forget that. It had been a few years since he'd been playing with the band, but to me he was still just as much a part of it as everyone else. So, when I heard that David had passed away and my dad was working on assembling some of the old band members, I immediately planned to come home. 

The band back together for David's funeral, with a couple additions. David's guitar and picture were at the front of the sanctuary throughout the ceremony. 

On Thursday, March 8, David's funeral was held at our church, in the same sanctuary we would practice in on Saturdays and lead worship in on Sundays. In loving memory of David, the band wore Hawaiian shirts and jeans, and a black Welborne T-shirt. It was a typical outfit for him, so as we played and sang some of his favorite songs, we also dressed to match. I can picture him smiling to see us like that- and I can just as easily picture him playing along on his guitar from heaven.  

I dedicate this post to David. I know you're up there in heaven, and I hope we can have the full band reunited one day!