The Call: Silver Charm Bracelet — Cheryl

I joined band in fifth grade. I played the flute (I certainly didn’t make music with it). I wanted to play drums, but my dad said no. By the time I got to eighth grade, I finally got up the gumption to say, “No. Just because my best friend is in band (and chorus, and lives for the theater, and, and, and), doesn’t mean that I have to be.” It was a wonderful taste of liberty, and I sometimes wonder why it took me so long to turn my back on so many other expectations from so many other people and finally say, “It’s my life; I’ll live it. Thank you very much.”