TubaForum.net

Was on the old forum cleaning out old PMs and found some correspondence between myself and Michael, who passed away unexpected at a very young age (53) about seven years ago. We connected over our respective times at the University of Kentucky and had some extensive chats about our experiences. We struck up a long-distance friendship and chatted about this-and-that every couple months or so for a number of years. When he passed, he had recently moved from South Carolina back to Kentucky, where he was the pastor at a church in Versailles, in the middle of beautiful horse country outside of Lexington.

On interest-based online communities like this, where we interact with people we've likely never met in person (well, I've met four or five of youse guys), it's easy to lose track of folks as interests change and passions wane (unless you're bloke, who has been trolling tuba boards for the past 25 years). I'm sorry to say that I lost track of Michael a bit for five years or so before his death, but we had reconnected just a few months before his passing. It's kind of surreal to realize that folks can be here one minute and gone the next. I don't have a real point to this post, but I remember that Michael was an awesome dude who had rediscovered a passion for tuba and was an integral part of this online community. Cherish the people in your life (if you like 'em) and don't take it for granted. Oh yeah, and brush your teeth before you play.

A couple of days ago, some friends' (probably just under age 70) c. 40-year-old son wasn't answering their phone.
yep: passed away in their sleep.
They did have some health (and mental health) issues, but - quite recently - were doing quite well.

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re: trolling about playing with a clean mouth, oiling the valves before EACH time an instrument is played, and not falling for valve oil secret formulation mumbo-jumbo

Someone (c. 100 miles away) is bringing me a euphonium with "valve problems". They've attempted to self-diagnose and - so far - have bought two sets of (eBay 10X-priced) valve guides for it. I'm willing to wager the cost of the cleaning (and - without quibbling) that at least 90% of the problem "lack of consistent oiling and lime build-up".
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We should probably make an effort to end each day as as best we can, yes?

Getting a viola player to practice, brush their teeth, can be a challenge. I turned 55 last Fall, and I’m starting to see weekly passings of people I knew when we were kids. Life just isn’t fair.