Pat Derrick

I remember the first time I saw Michelle. Somebody, probably Matt Hurley, had asked her to come work with Just Class. Another person had commented on how lucky we were, and I asked,

“Who is Michelle Owens?”

“Oh,” they said. “You will love Michelle. Everybody loves Michelle!”

Saying that to an old contrary hillbilly makes that hillbilly determined to not love her.

When I got to practice, there was this incredibly gorgeous blond on the floor writing rifle work. There’s reason enough to hate her, right? She had the biggest, brightest smile I’ve ever seen—there was literally a glow in that corner of the gym.

We were introduced. The smile just got bigger. And she was so NICE. There was nothing, nothing, negative about her. No cattiness, no meanness—just this incredibly positive person who beamed.

Needless to say, I was immediately in love with Michelle, just like anybody who ever met her.

Her brother Bryan was stationed in DC that year, so he started coming to practice and hanging out with the kids. He was like this crazy little puppy that galloped into the room, entertaining and exhausting everybody. Michelle would just roll her eyes and keep that 1000 watt smile going. It was obvious that she adored him.

When my daughter Rowan marched with the Crossmen in 2000, Michelle was the caption head. I came up to

Allentown for a week or so and sewed flags for Michelle. I remember working with her on some flags that could “grow” for the Caravan number. She was never demanding; so easy to work with. The guard kids were like mice to her Pied Piper (maybe it was the Nyquil. At one point, I think everybody in the guard was sick and Michelle tried a group cure. I still wonder how she came up with that much Nyquil. Some things a mother should never know….).

I watched quite a bit of practice and never saw her treat them badly. I never heard one kid complain about her; they would march through hell for her.

There are some people who, just because they exist, make you understand that there is goodness in the world. All the tributes to Michelle, all the love that has poured toward her in the last year, that’s because she somehow managed to plant a small piece of herself into the heart of all of us.

And yes, everybody loves Michelle