Todd!

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

On the last band trip (two years ago), we spent the first three days in Berlin. In the morning we were set to travel to our next town, Keith and I grabbed the back seat (because obviously we are the cool kids). Actually, I don’t know how we ended up there on previous trips (probably because I was late to board the bus – augh), but that is where we have always sat. Becky and Sally had sat in the seat in front of us each trip and so I expected them again.

Instead, there was a stranger and a stranger wife there. What? I whispered to Keith that it was not okay – no strangers (from Iowa!) could sit in Becky and Sally’s seat. Keith shrugged (but I know he agreed, because he agrees). I saw Becky and Sally coming down the aisle. They would boot that stranger right out of there. The stranger greeted them and immediately said, “Is this your seat? Would you like us to move?”

Yessssss!

And they said no, no, no. It’s fine. We’ll sit somewhere else.

Oh, Becky and Sally, what have you done!?

The stranger was Todd, the baritone player from Iowa (he is the creator of Wurst Brass Fest!). He had two women (that sounds like something, doesn’t it?). We knew one was a wife and the other was someone – a mother, a daughter, a friend? We didn’t know. We could have asked, but we had been hanging out for three days already and we’d passed that normal getting to know you phase, so it felt a little awkward. We wondered if he had an old wife or a young wife. It was entertaining not to know.

As the bus rolled through the German countryside, we subtly asked questions and figured out Angie was his wife (there is such a story about how they met and got married. I could tell you, but, you know, not really my story to tell. BUT I will mention that Angie was in high school when he student taught and he got to know her parents as band boosters, and she sang at his first wedding, and he set her up with his brother while they were in college, and like 6 years later she was the singer in a band he played in, and then 15 years later she got divorced, and then he got divorced, and then they bumped into each other at Beef Fest, and then they got married 4 or 5 years ago, and they and their three plus three adult children are all going on vacation together in November) and the other lady was Angie’s mom (her name is Angie’s mom). (It might be Nancy, or Susan, or Marilyn, or Madeline. Or Joyce. Those are the names that jump out to me. Or Jane! She is coming on this trip, so I will learn to not call her Angie’s mom.) We also learned that Todd is really funny and really nice and we are SO LUCKY that he sat in front of us. What a joyful man!

We invited him to stay with us while the band did their weekend rehearsals and played the two pre-trip concerts. He arrived Friday night and just left for Iowa tonight after the concert. I miss him already. What fun it was to have him here – so much chatting and laughing and eating good food. He is computer-y and was able to work from our family room.

Today, at lunchtime, we tried to make him pizza oven pizza but it was a total fail. The dough was too soft and stuck to the peel. We chiseled it off into a pile in the oven. Keith said there was no way that it was going to cook, so we had to get Leann Chin’s instead. Keith scraped it off the pizza stone onto a plate and brought it in while Todd ran to the restaurant. Turns out the pizza mess was delicious and I ate a bunch of it.

Keith went to have his hearing tested and has lost more hearing in his right ear. Weird. He was supposed to have his hearing aid adjusted and then forgot to take it. He was feeling very sleepy today and was blowing his nose and just not feeling great. NO! NO BEING SICK IN EUROPE! Maren says he is allergic to Europe. I think she is right.