Collective Pride…and Two Soldiers Tales

From the road this week: I’ve seen many a promotional video at airports whilst waiting for a connection, with all of them letting me know that by continuing on to my destination instead of stopping over, I will miss out big time on the excitement of the city that lies beyond the airport walls.  Now mostly they are pretty frenetic because they try to pack as much in as possible and I have seen several that include the orchestra of the city albeit for a few seconds. The one I saw this week was different and had a twist, plus I was inadvertently placed in two related poignant moments in two different cities …..

Whilst waiting in Atlanta to connect to Syracuse, a video ran about the city, probably one of many that run every hour.  The video started with the Atlanta Symphony, then jumped to the phenomenal and native Atlanta band Collective Soul.  OK, so I am thinking, clever, this video is about the contrasting music available in the city, but then the surprising twist:  Lead singer Ed Roland says (and I paraphrase) Hi we are Collective Soul from Atlanta, here to tell you that the Atlanta musical group we are most proud of is this one – cut to Atlanta Symphony – The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Way to go!!!

Two very different and extremely brief encounters with soldiers made me pause to think of their sacrifice.  In Springfield security allowed a soldier’s wife and baby to see him off at the gate.  I was the last one to get up to board and stopping for a second as a reflex to allow the soldier to board before me, I realized very quickly, he wanted to be last on so he could say one last goodbye, I happily obliged and boarded ahead of him, it was a moving moment to say the least.  Several hours later arriving in Syracuse there was a group of soldiers sitting near me who were coming back from their tours of duty, and their joy and excitement was palpable.  I was actually ahead of them to get off the plane, but this time realizing that I could get them to their families a few seconds sooner, I stood aside (as did others) to let them off.  It was such a joy to witness from behind the reaction from their families when we exited the gate area.  We cannot thank these young men and women enough for their sacrifice for us.

Here is Collective Soul performing Shine with the Atlanta Youth Symphony: