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Johannah's Final PMEA Festival

It's with a sad heart that Johannah attended her last PMEA festival.  She's a senior, so it's no surprise. Unfortunately, she won't be attending the All-State PMEA festival this year--she was a few seats short of qualifying.

Funny how easy it is to write that when in reality it was a horrific situation.  Johannah was incredibly embarrassed that she didn't make it, and having to attend a four day festival after finding out on the second day that she won't be advancing was difficult.  She still isn't sure why she didn't make it, because she felt her audition was good.

When I finally saw her after the concert, I knew she just needed a hug, right there in the hallway.  She broke down in my arms, and we just beelined it out to the car.  More hugs, and a full-on crying session.  It wasn't much consolation, but in all honesty, she was due for a bad audition.  It's almost impossible to maintain a perfect record as a musician, qualifying and being the best at every festival and competition.  She's been doing really, really well since the summer, and it was about time for Fate to realize that it wouldn't continue.

She hopped in the car and just wanted to get home as soon as possible.  She didn't even bother to take off her choir robe.

While we had been gone, the heavens had opened once again and dumped several inches of snow on the Commonwealth.  I had been forced, once again, to drive through a crazy, blinding blizzard to the concert, and we returned home before John had been able to get home and plow the driveway.

Try as he might, Greenie just couldn't get up the driveway, around the tight curve, in the deep snow.  We had several attempts at just getting up the initial hill, and when we finally made that but started skidding off the driveway on the curve, I just gave up.  After all, John and I have spent too many hours this winter towing our different vehicles out of different situations on our driveway.

So, to add salt to the wound, Hannah got out of Greenie, grabbed her stuff, and walked up the driveway.  In the snow.  In flats.  With no coat.


At least we had picked up kebaps on the way home.

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