I had a good Easter week. I reflected on my time in Israel to see in person where Jesus lived and fulfilled his mission to be the sacrificial lamb which was prophesied years before and of course, His glorious resurrection. It was nice to also watch the final episodes of season 5 of the chosen which mainly was focused on the last supper. After visiting Israel, I've wanted to observe the Jewish holidays. It is the basis for my faith as a Christian. Jesus as stated before is the passover lamb. Most people's thoughts on the Last Supper stem from DiVinci's Last Supper painting but there were a few issues with the painting in regards to actual tradition. It was surreal like so many places I visited, to be in the room believed to be where the Last Supper took place. 
Matthew 26: 26-30
Mat 26:26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is My body.”
Mat 26:27 And He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it,
Mat 26:28 for this is My blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.
Mat 26:29 Mark My words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom.”
Mat 26:30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mark 14: 32-36
Gethsemane 
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The next part I was probably most looking forward to. The most important event in history, Christ dying and being resurrected. To be where it all happened would be unreal. However, it was a little anti climatic for me because of the tourist climate and a church being built on top of Calvary, it was almost impossible to picture it for me. So while still being thankful to witness it, It was not as emotional of an experience as I thought it would be. 

The next part while maybe not being as historically accurate, it provided a much more "real" experience for me and I was happy to be able to go here also. Jesus did defeat death and the tomb was empty and He is risen to this day until His return! Thank you Jesus!

Honored to be the guest at Calvin University tomorrow! 

After a nice 6 hour drive from the U.P. I headed down to KZoo to see the great Christian McBride. As many times as I've heard him, I still stand amazed. The highlight of the evening was the volume of the concert. Never above a mf. Everyone played so articulate. It was a great evening. Marcus Gilmore  was terrific! Fun to have dinner with "kids" and so great to see a man I have so much respect for Mr. John Varineau.

Had a nice drive to the U.P. for this gig. I was astonished at the tree damage from last weeks ice storm. Thousands of trees snapper or toppled. Saw 5 bald eagles. Hwy 2 is really beautiful. Great gig and band! 

Another attempt to document God's creative beauty in nature. 

Truly one of my favorite pianist, and I have many, is the jazz master Mr. Kenny Barron. There is something about his melodic swinging approach and incredible touch on the piano that is so appealing to me. He is the ultimate gentleman and I will take every opportunity to witness his genius that I can. It was nice to see all my friends at UofM also. I've also included some other pictures over the years with Mr. Barron! 

I'm so blessed to have so many high school friends that I still stay in contact with. One of those dear friends is Ken Laberteaux. Ken and I have traveled together in our early days, but now I try and see him when I come to Ann Arbor. His parents are one of many that I call Mom and Dad and have so many cherished memories with the Laberteaux family. I love that we do life together and Ken and Maria have been such a support to me over the years. It was nice to again break bread together! 

I had breakfast with Luke on Thursday. Luke is a very special young man that you better be on the watch for. His musicality is only surpassed by his soulful personality. I first met Luke when he was a student at Oxford. His band director who is a dear friend John Hill kept telling me about this kid. It has been so fun to watch his development and he is truly a world class musician ready to play with all the greats including Mr. Christian McBride who is #1 on the list! 2 weeks after Talia passed, my group was playing at the EL Jazz Festival. I had asked Luke to be in the group. I was greeted with a hug and a card. I will never forget the love and compassion Luke showed me acting much more as an adult than a student. I was honored to have Luke also join me on my tribute project to Talia. Very thankful that God crossed my path with this beautiful individual! These are some photos that I could find over the years. 

I had so much fun going to see my two nephews sing for their concert. 

Recitals were always a special time for me. They are deeply personal, a documentation of growth, and of course always swingin'! Judah had invited me to come so I was happy to attend. It was an interesting day with tornadoes in the area but all was well. It's always about the relationships with me so it was so good to see so many friends. Amazing job by both Judah and Luke and all that participated. Will write a bit more on Luke in a future blog!

For as many stories as I have with me and birds, I still do enjoy watching them. Bald Eagles which were always bucket list items for me, kind of like the Northern Lights, have been plentiful in the past year. I'll never get tired of watching them. These are 3 different Eagle locations. One in Georgetown Twp., one in Lansing, and one video below at Kirk Park. I've also included a livestream I love to watch out in CA. God is amazing! 

It was so great to go out with my Pops to see my Pops! It's been a minute since Pops Froncek has done a gig so my Dad and I went to support and I sat in on drums and trumpet. It was great to see so many in my GR Jazz Community who I love and this jazz society which will always hold a special spot in my heart for their award they bestowed on me in 2014. I have written blogs on Pops and Mom Froncek before but I owe so much to him including my first professional gig in HS. Their love and support over the years is in the beyond category so thought I'd include some pictures from the past. A good time was had by all. 

Always great to go see Hammer however it was extra special this time because I got to introduce Elijah to one of our drum hero's this time. Jeff had been on Lij's list of people to see so it was fun to do that. Lij reminded me of a full circle moment where many years ago I had Lij learn Caravan in Hammer style and he actually played it live. It was great to see so many other friends. We also had a great dinner. Good talks and blindfold tests in the car. So blessed to be able to do this yet with Elijah. Also great to see Jeff's Sister and Niece as always around this area. 

The day started with a bald eagle flying over my car but did not get a picture in time. Made my way back to Lansing to see a few people, get taxes done, go see my other bald eagle lol, a turkey vulture I think, and back to the lake in Holland which was very windy and cold. 

The best thing about any job I've ever had is the relationships! I knew Sam a little in HS at Rockford but it was Sam stopping by my office just to say hi everyday where I really formed my friendship. Sam continues to check on this old man and am always happy to share a meal or the bandstand with him. I was honored to have him be a part of my tribute project to Talia on the Ellis Marsalis composition "Cry Again". It was fun going through a few of these memories!  Thanks for lunch Sam!

Had the pleasure of seeing Professor Emerich on his birthday today. He has always been so kind to me and I'm still using his wisdom gleaned from my lesson with him a few years ago. I returned his trumpets worked on at West Michigan Band Instruments today. Happy Birthday Prof! 

Now that I'm a little closer and no full time job yet, I have a little more time to go see all the nieces and nephews events. Was good to see Esther perform her role in Shrek. Good job Ess. Uncle Max loves ya! 

One of the many honors we get from J@LC EE Program is a clinician sent to our school to work with the students on their music. This year our in school clinician was someone we were familiar with so it awesome to welcome back Professor Walter Blanding. Every time I get to observe Walter, I leave very inspired and have a greater understanding of this amazing gift God has given us in jazz. Thank you Walter for your expertise and inspiration. Thank you J@LC for this amazing program! 

I have had the blessing to call so many individuals Mom. One of the first of those many women was my 3rd grade teacher Ms. Poll that year, next year became Mrs. Mesman. My life has been so enriched to not only be able to call her Mom, but now with her husband, dear friends. They are inspirational to me, we share many laughs, they keep me company on my desert island lol, but I'm also so happy to call them my brother and sister in Christ. They have been such an encouragement to me over the years and I look forward to every time we can share food and fellowship. Their impact on lives will last for generations. Love them dearly! 

The day started judging the district 10 jazz festival. What I love about this one is I get to clinic with the band after the performance. I actually don't enjoy "judging" but I love trying to bring the passion I have about this music to the kids. All the ensembles put in a lot of working had nice performances. I was also so thankful for every band played at least one jazz standard and they did a great job exposing the kids to this great American art form! 

Upon returning home, I went to Mt. Pisgah. I have never heard of this in Holland, but my sister Michelle and I just had a conversation about this. She asked me if I had been yet. After that conversation, she sent me a picture of her daily Bible devotional and they talked about the Mt. Pisgah in the Middle East and that was followed by randomly the GR Press doing a story on it the Holland Mt. Pisgah that day. So I said I should go check it out. It was fun to view the sunset up there and on the other side to watch the moonrise! 

I stayed up to watch the lunar eclipse right off my back porch. It was unseasonably warm and I love to marvel at God's creation.  The last picture is from my friend Jeremy Church, an amazing photographer in Muskegon. 

This is a weird way to start a blog about people I love dearly but I wish I had never met them. I'm being facetious obviously, but I met Sue Anderson at the Lansing Hospice. Sue was an amazing support to me and Talia during our stay at Hospice. She was a compassionate Christian influence during this time. She helped me through the awful process we faced and taught me that sometimes the suffering we faced was not just physical. Since then, I have not only become friends with Sue but her awesome husband Dave and even her son Jon, who I got to work with at his church. I am thankful for this beautiful blessing that came about from a trying time! A testament to God's goodness! 

Had a fun filled weekend. Worked at the Lego event at Northview for West MI Band on Saturday. Time Change! Yuck! Then went to the last service at Bella Vista Church and saw Dad play for the last time in the worship band. Took my niece and nephew out for lunch then gave Matthew a trumpet lesson and he is very talented! Then Saw these eagles as I went into a movie which was awesome by Mario Murillo on healings! Ended the night hiking at Rosy Mound and had a good but cold time with God on the snowy trail yet. Link to the movie: https://mariomurillo.org/events/i-am-living-proof-the-movie/
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A Couple of sunsets from the past week in Holland. Was so fun to share it with my dear friends the Andersons this evening! 

There was a false thinking I had about getting through all the firsts after Talia's transition to Heaven. Many of those big firsts came pretty quick after her passing. Talia passed on June 10. Our Anniversary was on July 1 and her birthday was on July 23 , so 2 major ones within a couple months. The false thinking I had, was once you get past the firsts, it would get easier. That hasn't really been the case  because these dates come every year and you don't forget them. Some of the bigger holidays were not so bad for me like Christmas and stuff for whatever reason and we kind of did things low key because of some of Talia's anxiety. What I have found is when you do life together as intimately as we did, there will always be more firsts or reminders. They are incredibly random. Just as an example, in the last 2 days here are some reminders that have come up. I stayed in a hotel this weekend. When Talia and I stayed in a hotel, Talia's routine was sending me to the ice machine to bring back ice to have with her Coca Cola. Simple but I walk past the ice machine now and either laugh thinking about that and get sad in the same moment. Or when I would stay by myself and bring home the make up remover that were in the hotel bathroom for her that I don't have to do anymore. I went past an Insomnia cookie place today, and normally would have stopped to bring her some, or I was making toast this week and l was taught when making toast for her, I needed to get the butter and jam all the way to the edges! Same thing, started laughing and getting sad at the same time.

 I am thankful for all these moments. I did see this the other day and could relate. The Hospice grief counselor who would call me once a month for the first year after Talia's passing, told me, "Your mind will eventually catch up to your new reality, but your heart may always have that hole there" She was right! Miss her every day but am so happy she is with God in maybe Heaven maybe Paradise not sure which one as I study these things now, but all that matters is she loved Jesus and am so glad there is no death because of that and she is at perfect peace. ​