Tammy Fallon

Today I thought back to some of my favorite memories with someone I've looked up to since I was a little girl. Michelle Owens was one of my first color guard teachers, and no one was paying her to do it. She was a member of the Crossmen and I was a 9 year old following the color guard around while my dad taught the hornline. Michelle was a bad@ss at color guard and that summer she took time out of her downtime to teach me how to actually spin my rifle covered in purple, sparkly tape. I remember learning how to do double time, throw parallels, and my first triple. I started standing near their technique blocks and spinning along for the rest of tour. This is usually the first memory I share when I tell friends and students about Michelle... yes, it was sweet, but what I was really thinking about today was just how influential she was for me. I'm sure her "private lessons" helped give me skills and

confidence to let my parents know I wanted to audition for Black Watch and The Boston Crusaders the following year. When I look at decades of tours, it's rare that you see extremely talented people finding someone on their meal break and saying, "want to learn something?" I'm thankful for having that experience. I'm thankful for years of watching Michelle be a beast on the field and floor, for seeing her name on a staff announcement and thinking "that's a lucky group of kids", and for the many many times I got to see her gorgeous smile and catch up on our families, teams, massage therapy, and life. I'm so sad that these catch ups have been cut short, but keep thinking of how to make these lessons and pieces of Michelle I carry in my heart shine as bright as her smile through my actions as a teacher and person. We were blessed to have such an amazing person touch our lives!