Poppy

(14, May 1952)
‘POPPY’
Pen took us back to both he and my childhood almost sixty years ago with our great-grandfather ‘Poppy’.
Though he has changed the names of the characters slightly (my middle name is John, and my sister’s middle name is Louise and so on) ostensibly it was the summer that Pen ‘came of age’. From the innocent young boy to the youth of a young man, experiencing the first close human’s passing and the nature of things around him.
Pen reveals in very poetic descriptive phrases new discoveries and wonders of a farm life for a young city boy and his relationship with his great-grandfather.
Pen (alias Lanny, a ‘nick name’ he donned as he was known when he was young) brings us into a life that is replete with adventures that ‘boys’ even today experiences as emotional tidbits of life.
Many of these adventures and experiences, I too have shared, along with this special bond that ‘Poppy’ had with his great-grandchildren.
Pennel ‘Pen’ has always been a dreamer of stories and held these thoughts as precious gems to be admired, and it was not a surprise to me that when he reached adulthood he choose to be a journalist and a writer and teacher. What could be more natural for a boy to hone these skills in the fresh environment of farm life?
Indeed there is something very special and magical between Great-Grand-Parents and their grandchildren. I suppose its because in our childhood days there simply wasn’t that many around. They teach wisdom from life’s experiences in ways that can only be taught from a person that has lived as long as they.

In Loving Memory

James