It’s marching season! In honor of it being time for drum corps’ to start/or have already started camps for the season I am going to share my experience of my boyfriend being in a drum corps! It wasn’t easy, but I’d do it all over again.

Thankfully, this year my boyfriend has decided to take a year off from drum corps and he won’t be leaving, however , last year he went on tour and it was a crazy different experience for me. Seeing some of my friends attending camps has brought back good and bad memories of last year.

I remember when he first told me about how he does drum corps and that he’d be touring over the summer, it really didn’t hit me until he started going to camps about twice a month. He was gone all weekend and I was missing my best friend, a lot. It was just a “Okay, yeah, he’s going to be gone this weekend and I’ll just see him Sunday night “ type of thing, I could totally handle it.

There was a date all summer that I was dreading, July 5th. July 5th was the first real punch in the face to me that woke me up , like hey, he’s going to be gone for 10 days now it’s not just a few days. I remember a lot of tears and being angry, but not really directly angry at him.

I saw him after 10 days, because they had a performance near where I lived. So, I got to see him perform and be with him for about 30 minutes. It was heartbreaking, I knew what was next and I knew I wouldn’t see him for over a month. I can’t explain how hard it was to leave him that night, but I did and I started my countdown until I could see him next.

The next month was a big blur of crying, anger, and happiness. I was super sad I couldn’t see him, upset at him for leaving me for that long, and so incredibly happy that he was doing this. His happiness and seeing how amazing he was doing is what really got me through. I was barely able to talk to him, but I treasured every moment I got.

I was about 12 days away from him coming home when his mom contacted me and asked if I wanted to come up to Indianapolis to see the final. Y’all, I can’t tell you how happy I was, his mom is an absolute blessing and I’ll never be able to thank her for what she’s done and keeps doing for me. Eight days later I was on a plane to Indianapolis, I got to see him 4 days early and experience the last bit of tour with him. It made the entire month worth it and I felt so proud of him, along with myself, too.

I would do it all again (hopefully going along with him next time). His happiness is super important and if this is what makes him happy then I’ll support it 100%. It made me stronger and us stronger as a couple. 10/10 would recommend.

Plus, look how cute he looks in his uniform!