They Can Make You Proud
Apparently, my 11 year old grandson, Dylan, asked his parents if he could stay home from school on Remembrance Day to watch the history channel on TV to learn of the meaning of the day. It seems he is not very happy with the usual thing they do a school on this day.
Dylan Robinson (the day we spent together going to pick up my dog Heidi)
Dylan is a bright child who is intellectually curious and sensitive. He is a excellent student and attends a school where the language of instruction is French, not his first language but one he has mastered.
He aspires to be a veterinarian. He is very interested in my animals. He, also, seems to enjoy listening to me about the animals and the flora and fauna of the natural world. I think we have a nice relationship.
It turns out he has a passion and talent I knew nothing about. He likes to write songs. he has taken keyboarding lessons, I am not sure if he also writes music.
In any case, in response to spending the day watching the programming around Armistice Day, he wrote a song about the WWI battle of Passchendaele, the third battle of Ypres, in which Canada played a major role in winning at the price of 16,000 Canadian Corp soldiers.
Here is his song:
Passchendaele Was A Living Hell
Passchendaele was a living hell
Is a story I will tell
It’s a story so scary
In the Belgium’s muddy prairie
German’s had all the good guns
So they killed tons and tons
But when the German’s where done
It was the British and Canadian's who had won
Passchendaele, Passchendaele was a living hell
If you go there you will see the shells
Exploiting in the air, those German’s didn’t care.
16,000 Canadian soldiers gone in a flash
Whatever’s left of the bodies is smaller than ash
For five months these countries fought
One Million Soldiers got bombed or got shot
Now I am done my story
And today it’s still Belgium’s territory
These countries lost one million people for nothing.
So for some families the news must sting
When you get the news that someone you know dies
It makes you want to curl up and cry.
Dylan November 11, 2008
I think I am prouder of him more for caring enough to learn about WWI, than for his song writing.
I give high praise to his parents for understanding not all learning is in school and to recognize they have a trustworth son who can stay home alone and do as he said he would.
Well done, Dylan.
I look forward to having an interesting conversation with Dylan about what he learned.
posted by Tossing Pebbles in the Stream @ 1:14 p.m.
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11 Comments:
Great kid. You have every right to be proud.
Philip, this is a wonderful post! First of all, Hunter is a very handsome young man and secondly, I am very impressed with his maturity. Lots of teenagers nowadays don't care too much what happened in their parents and grandparents day, they just care about the next night, party, whatever... My daughter I think will do something along the same lines as what Hunter would like to. She loves animals and not only that but they love her too which is important. My son is a very good poet and is capable of pulling at your heartstrings with the depth and maturity in his poetry. Pride. No one can take away our pride but we should be proud of ourselves too, we listened and learned to/from our own parents and granparents and the wonderful traditions and good natures were instilled in us. We didn't stop there though, we kept on running with what we learned and we passed it on to our own children., and on it goes. There is something very touching and very moving about being able to see what a great job we all did. Take the credit Philip, I think you have irked Hunters interests because you are interesting yourself. You have involved and included him and that is what kids like.
I do go on don't I... and on. :o)
Very nice, you have every right to be proud..
I just realised that someone else made the same comment!! Sorry!!
That boy is very intelligent and talented. I look forward to hearing more about him!
Philip--two observations. Looking at the photo of your grandson, it is easy to see the family resemblance!
So, perhaps it is no surprise that he has the same passion for truth that you have displayed in your writings here.
You are blessed to have such a grandson.
Philip--having read your post (and even having commented on it), I went to Wikipedia and read about the Battle of Passchendaele.
I note that Dylan's poem shares a word pairing with Siegfried Sassoon:
"I died in Hell
(they called it Passchendaele); my wound was slight
and I was hobbling back; and then a shell
burst slick upon the duckboards; so I fell
into the bottomless mud, and lost the light"
― Siegfried Sassoon
Indeed, the protracted battle was HELL.
Not only is Dylan handsome, but talented! Great post. I also scrolled down and read your post about "women's words". Hilarious. True. Don't you think? Well, fine!! Oh, whatever! xoxoxo
Of course he is a smart young lad and handsome too... Looking at his dad and granddad its in his genes. :) Isn't it a wonderful feeling seeing a grandchild do so well! Warms my heart.
You have so much to be proud of - he seems like a fine young man! Enjoy every minute!
Glad to hear your boy there has such a thirst for real knowledge. The school system is really failing out children, isn't it?
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