Reflections

My first year, my friends outside of the bell choir didn't understand why on earth I would ever want to spend two weeks on a bus with the same people. Nor did they understand how rummage could possibly be fun in any sense of the word, or indeed what bells even was. Back then, I really couldn't answer those questions myself, past just saying, "I just like it." I don't know what it was exactly that kept me coming back to bells after that first practice. I suppose I figured ringing bells was kind of cool, it was something new to try out, and the people in the choir were fun to listen to sometimes.

I listened a lot in my first year. I still like to listen, though I've gotten to the point where I do my fair share of talking, as well. Thinking back on it, it makes me wonder where the people who met me in my first year thought I would end up in 4 years. Did they ever in a million years predict that I might be the lead ringer in my senior year? Or did they figure I was going to stay the shy, quiet girl who did her best to fly under the radar?

I certainly thought I would be the latter. I never saw myself as much of a leader -- I was much too quiet to lead, I was sure. Now, I feel like I do an ok job. I feel like I owe a lot of that to the choir and the people in it. The members of this choir are such a mix of personalities -- I have met people who are as quiet as I was, and people who I'm sure have never been quiet their entire lives. I've learned how to read people a little better, so maybe I'll be able to tell when they're upset or angry, and how I can best help them. I've learned a lot more about people in general, and while much of what we deal with is the bells themselves, we also deal with people.

Maybe in some kind of alternate universe, there is a group of teenagers that can coexist together in a tin can on wheels for two weeks and not argue at all. Whatever universe that is, it's certainly not this one. With so many different ideas, opinions, and personalities, it would be impossible for everyone to get along all the time. But from my knowledge, no one has ever killed another ringer on tour, and that in itself is a pretty big accomplishment. Not everybody has to like each other in bells, but we maintain a policy of respect that we all try to uphold, and for the most part, we do a pretty good job. It astonishes me how much support the members of the choir give to each other. No matter how dysfunctional a family we may be at times, we always hold on to each other then times are tough. I know when I'm upset, or when I'm excited about something, some of the first people I tell are in the choir. I know the friendships I've made will last for years to come, and the memories even longer.

I have a journal I keep specifically for tour, and I only have about seven pages left in it. I write in it every night -- events of the day and host homes, of course, but also things like inside jokes ("Forrest! You're cheating on your man-purse! Shameful!") and small matters that happened on the bus that I might want to remember, even if they seem rather trivial at the time. I have the last few pages reserved, to write in at the very end, when it finally sinks in that I'm not going to be walking into the bell room for another year in September. I haven't thought about what I'm going to write yet -- it seems unreal that such an incredible experience can come to an end. But when at last my time in bells comes to a close, I know I will have so many wonderful experiences to remember, lessons learned and friendships to cherish. The fact that, even when I'm done with bells, I'll still have a piece of it to carry on with me for the rest of my life -- that, to me, is what makes the Wesley Bell Ringers so wonderful.

~Becca Wood