Grandmother Aitken

I thought I would take a moment and leave a few thoughts here regarding grandparents.

Today would have been my paternal grandmother's 92nd birthday. Marvelous. For certain, Sara "Sally" Ella Tiedeman Aitken was a remarkable woman...and I miss her dearly.

She was born in 1916 - I just can't imagine that; it seems so long ago. And she entered God's arms on the evening of July 26, 2006. Those of you who know me well, know that I speak of her often, and with great pride, by virtue of the fact that she was my grandmother - emphasis on GRAND, to be sure.

Gramps will be 92 on August 1st. And my, how he misses her dearly...how we all do.

I will not go into depth now by sharing moving and sentimental anecdotes, but should you be interested, you are more than welcome to contact me. I am more than welcome to share. But I will however share with you some thoughts that I have on grandparents/grandparenting - thoughts that, should God bless you with extraordinary grandparents, you will find most refreshing and yet all too familiar at the same time.

Firstly, 'Grandparent' means exactly what it says it means. GRAND. A grandmother or grandfather has done its due in the parenting role, and is thereby free to ignore all established parenting rules, much to the parents' beseeching and imploring otherwise. I guess your parents are never on your side. Even when you're the parent. I can't wait.

But anyway, you know what I mean - the extra candy bars, the skipping of 'mandated' afternoon naps, the roadtrips, the unmerited presents and the lazy enforcement of such rules as "Finish your green beans." Grandparents rule.

They do have the important rules down though - You're on your honor, Make me proud, Listen to your mother and father, Practice piano, Be the peacemaker, Go to church, Say your prayers, Don't sweat the small stuff. These are all rules that Gramma lived by and consequently taught me. Far more important than green beans. Goodness, I really do miss her. Are you crying yet? Because I am.

Secondly, a grandchild never sees his grandparents through adult eyes; he always sees his grandparents through child's eyes. Grandparents never seem to get any older (in fact, in partial response to having grandchildren, I think they get younger...). And you never imagine life without them. But that day does inevitably come. Here's my example:

I just turned 24. A few days after, I realized (and said to myself) that my father was 24 when he had me. I am now as old as my father was when I was born. I don't consider myself to be 'old', but I have always imagined my father as 'old'. However, I never imagined Gramma Aitken as 'old'. And I still don't think that Gramps is 'old' at 92 this August. I guess it is, judging by everyone's reactions when I tell them of his impending age. Human perceptions of time and age are quite intricate and intriguing, especially when you relate the two.

So in short, realize sooner than later (if you haven't already) that your grandparents are wonderful people. You, as the grandchild, are the fruition of every hope, wish and desire that they have ever had and for which they have lived and prayed. Don't parents want this too, you're asking? Sure they do. But it is inexplicably different. You are them, literally and figuratively, two generations later. They want the best for you, and they want you to learn everything that you can from life. Gramma taught me so much, even in her death - profound to be sure. It is almost as profound as her love of life, family and me...and mine for her and Gramps.

So here's to Sara Ella, Donald Francis, and all grandparents out there. Remember - with having you as grandchildren, your grandparents get to be kids again. What a gift you are to them!



Here's a clip of "Irish Tune from County Derry" aka Londonderry air/Danny Boy, composed by Percy Grainger, a wind band composer and saxophonist of Australian descent. Gramma loved this song. Happy Birthday, Gramma...

Stuck a feather in his hat...

Please consider this the two-hundred thirty-second time someone has wished a "Happy Independence Day" to our great nation.

And Happy 4th of July to you too!

I'm always moved by this memorable day, one that marks the occasion where the Continental Congress finalized their draft of the Declaration of Independence from England. A myth is that it was actually signed and approved on July 4th, 1776. In fact, the legal separation from Britain was two days prior - July 2nd, 1776. The Declaration itself was approved as a document on the 4th. It wasn't actually signed by all members of the Congress until August 2nd of said year.

In any case, it is a historic occasion, which warrants much celebration. The freedom that inspired the founding fathers of this nation is indeed a God-given one, a noble cause even today, nationwide and worldwide. Americans condemn the world to a terrible loss of that unique and beautiful freedom, should we take it for granted.

John Adams said this, in writing to his wife Abigail:
"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

God Bless America.

And now on to my musical selection update, to your right - Yankee Doodle Dandy, and my rant, below - New Jersey. "Yankee Doodle" is no doubt a familiar tune to you, at least during your grammar school days. It is a bright and clever song, written partially by the British and partially by the American colonists. It is the state anthem of Connecticut, and the state could not have chosen a better song for the proud connecticutians among us.

It is better than any other state anthem because:
1) It is historic, most definitely, and goes back to the earliest days being an "American", even before our independence was declared, fought for, and won.
2) Most other states have state anthems, but their mediocre titles are simply that of the name of the respective state.

For example,
Alabama's state anthem: 'Alabama'
Arizona's state anthem: 'Arizona'
Arkansas's state anthem: (they change it up a bit - are you ready for this?) 'Oh, Arkansas'

and the BORING list goes on and on...

Georgia chose "Georgia on My Mind", by Hoagy Carmichael. I guess, as a state legislature, you are destined to pick a silly state anthem such as this, given the fact that the composer's mother chose HOAGY for her son's name. What was on HER mind? Loser. Not to mention that Lifetime Television's 'Designing Women' chose it as their theme song. That's enough to ruin it for anybody. So, Georgia - secede, or change the song.

Only 49 states have a state anthem of some kind. But one does not. And which state is that, might you ask? Well, any one of us probably could have guessed this, but NEW JERSEY is the only state without an anthem - and my ventured guess as to the reasoning behind this is as follows.

Merriam Webster Online defines a state "anthem" as:
1) a song or hymn of praise or gladness and/or
2) a usually rousing song popular song that typifies or is identified with a particular subculture, movement or point of view

Firstly, a state anthem is supposed to be uplifting, positive and enthusiastic in making a statement about any given state.
Secondly, the words 'praise', 'gladness', 'rousing' and 'popular' are irrelevant in the case of New Jersey.
Finally, neither New Jersey's legislature nor its populous could find anything uplifting, positive or enthusiastic to say. Actually, no one could, can or WILL...

...excepting "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen. His submission for New Jersey's state anthem, "Born to Run", is still tabled for approval by the state legislature. I suggest that they aptly change the title of Springsteen's submission to "Born to Run - AWAY from New Jersey", though without a doubt, one should run from Bruce's music too.

So Happy Independence Day, Americans. And to you New "Jersey-ans" - pick a better state song and we'll talk.