Mr. P... (not saying the full name for anonymity.)

Well, I'd like to start off on the topic of this.  My band teacher got fired.  Even though I'm not in school anymore due to reasons I'd rather not talk about, it still hit me hard.  He was like a father to me, in all honesty.  I've never really admitted this to anyone.  Maybe one person.  The man was the father I never had.  It was thanks to him that I learned to play the trumpet as well as I did.  No one else gave me the correct information on how to play well.  In the past four years I've gone from barely being able to hit the top note of the Bb scale all the way to hitting the double high C without any warming up.  The reason he got fired, in my opinion, isn't a reason for a teacher to get fired at all.  He followed all of the rules and was one of the best, if not the best, teacher at that school.  There was one certain teacher, and everyone from my school knows who and what I'm talking about, that has done much worse.  I was planning on going back later in the year, but now I don't think I will.  It'd be strange having someone else in front of the band taking the place of my first band teacher.  But, he's where he wants to be.  I guess he's like the Kurdt Cobain of this era.  He left and probably wouldn't want to come back to this.  So, with that...  Keep on keepin' on and keep practicing your traditional grip.  I really will miss you...