The Moment of Silence

The Moment of Silence

by Avery Nixon

The Moment of Silence,

the time on Remembrance Day

when we imagine the soldiers,

how the soldiers fought for us,

how they sacrificed themselves

The ear-pitching sound of a gun rings in our ears

As a soldier gets colder and colder, his family still loves him

as if he was still here

We hear the weeping of children

when they find out one of their family members has passed away,

In the moment of silence

In the two minutes, we are in war

We feel the warm hearts,

fighting just to help us.

How the sound of the cannon can kill many.

How blood slowly touches the ground,

as a man falls

How we feel the man's soul helping us in our hearts to win

In the moment of silence

we feel the tears of a veteran's mother rush down her face

sadly on to the ground, she finds out her daughter has been killed

We hear the screams of the children

as they hear the cannon fire

We hear the wives beg for mercy,

In the moment of silence

How we hear the cheer of victory from the Canadian's in our ears,

we smile

In the moment of silence.

The two minutes break, we remember the soldiers

we remember our freedom,

We thank the soldiers for it,

In the moment of silence.

About the author

Avery Nixon is 10 years old and a grade 5 student at St. Francis of Assisi, Outer Cove, NL.   What is presented here is an exact reproduction of her work.  The editor of this blog, her dad, has made no changes, nor can he take any credit.  The pupil has far surpassed her mentor.

Tongue in Cheek

Kids are like sponges.  They'll soak up the good, as well as the not so good.  My 10 year old daughter, Avery, and I were invited to an Ice Caps hockey game last Sunday.  The Caps are our AHL team and it's the hottest ticket in town.  Our hosts were Gerry Mayo and his daughter, Laura.  Ave and Laura have been buddies since they first meet in daycare.  They were two and oh so cute back then.  Shucks, they had just barely graduated from being rug rats.  Now, don't get me wrong, they are and will always be precious.  It's just that, as they have gotten older, their cuteness has manifested itself in a different way.

One of the shticks at the hockey games is for live video of some fans to be broadcast on the huge score clock that hangs over center ice.  Laura was extremely excited about this prospect and pretty soon, her enthusiasm spread to Avery.  At each break in the action on the ice, these two joined all of the other kids in the crowd as they danced and clapped to the music.  All in the hope that their antics would catch the eye of the seemingly invisible cameraman.  With all of the want-to-be big screen stars doing the exact same thing, it's difficult to stand out in a crowd.  Avery and Laura were having fun, so I didn't bother to tell them that uniqueness is the key to being noticed.  It certainly worked for a then unknown Pamela Anderson, when the cameraman zoomed in on her ...... eyes (yeah, it was her eyes) as she sat amongst thousands at a football game in Vancouver.

Being the goof that I am, I couldn't help but whisper (I thought I whispered) to Gerry that if we end up on the big screen then I'm going to lay a big kiss right on his lips.  To his credit, Gerry never flinched.  His reply was cute and succinct, exactly what I have come to expect from my good buddy.  To my proposal, Gerry said "Okay, just no tongue please."  We chuckled like ten year old girls.

Being the bigger goof that I am, I figured I'd include the kids in the jocularity of the moment.  I suggested to them that if they were to get on the big screen, then they should give each other a big kiss.   Avery didn't flinch, she looked at Laura and said "Okay, but no tongue please."

Kids are like sponges.  The next time Gerry and I take the kids anywhere, we better make sure some of that sponge is stuck in their ears.


My inspiration for this story
Gerry, you finally made it into my blog.  You have to be careful what you wish for!  It's not that you're not a great friend or I don't love you like a brother.  It's more that I was waiting for you to do something interesting.  The time the four of us went out to a nice restaurant and you got the phone call that the fire department was at your house because your sitters, who happened to be your folks, almost burnt your house down because they put the electric kettle on the stove, just didn't cut it.  Neither did the time you microwaved your wallet.  You almost made it when your assistance to your friend, Paul, resulted in his 5th wheel trailer flattening his new truck.  Sure all of those incidents are somewhat interesting, but are they really good enough?  I assuredly would have to glamour them up so they meet the standard that my stories are known for.

Oh, Gerry.  It's a good thing you have a friend like me to make your life more interesting.  Excuse me?! What's that you say?  I just happen to know what you are thinking at the very moment you are reading this.  And no.... I will not do that!  I will not kiss your arse!  Even if I do, I ain't giving you any tongue.

Learning a Losing Lesson

The theme of the day is "losing".  Some things, like the spare tire I'm presently sporting or a dead end job, are actually okay to lose.  Many years ago, losing a girlfriend or two,or three also turned out to be a good thing for me because that lead to finding the one true love of my life.....hockey.  (Just kidding, Lynda.  You know you're a first line center and the best back-checker on this team.  I hope I never find out just how good your backhand is though!)  Annoying people are often put in their place by being told to "Get Lost".  I'm not sure that it's even possible for someone to get lost on purpose, but at least the message is loud and clear.

For the most part, losing is not something that we see as a positive.  Losing a game, a bet, teeth or your sense of self are all things we'd prefer not to experience.  Unfortunately, losing is as inevitable as breathing.  The annoying thing about losing is that it usually comes about because of something that we failed to do.  It is a constant reminder that we are not perfect and that is hard to swallow for anyone with a Stephen Harper sized ego.  Politics aside..... it was only yesterday that I experienced my most recent loss.  I was teaching power skating and left the rink without the two clip boards that I use to outline the drills to the kids.  I recently joked with my assistant hockey coach that I should take bets on how long before I lose them.  I'm glad I was only joking because I think Jim Yee was ready to bet his house that I'd lose them within the week.  I would have lost that bet.

Perhaps my hockey boards are not lost in the true sense of the word.  I do know where I left them.  I even have my name and cell phone number written on both of them.  I called the rink this morning and the manager was going to have a look and call me back.  I haven't heard from him.  Perhaps he lost my number?

On Sunday, myself and my friend Perry went to a party for the football pool we are in.  The NFL season is half over, so what better excuse is needed to get together to celebrate.  It is a large pool, as it has over 150 entrants.  One person is way ahead of the pack, so the rest of us are losing!  Regardless, it was a fantastic time.  Jason and Sully, as well as the gang at Blue on Water Restaurant (note - this is a shameless plug), put on quite the afternoon of entertainment.  Several games on the TV's, lots of meat to eat, and free booze.  I sure felt like a winner.

As it turned out, there were a few things lost during the frenzy that was the football pool party.  Despite the food and drinks being free, I lost all of the money that I had in my wallet.  Okay....I sort of lost the money.  Well, I didn't really lose it at all.  I actually bought things, not that I needed those extra drinks and the food.  I got caught up in the moment and the only thing I really lost was my senses.  Like my hockey clipboards, I know where my money was last seen.  Unlike my boards, I'm not hopeful that I'll be reacquainted with those dollar bills any time soon.  Maybe if I had written my cell phone number on them?

Writing your name and contact number on things you own is a tried and true method of getting lost items returned to you.  I can remember Lynda doing it for all of our kids' clothing when they were young.  I do believe she still does it, even though they are almost teenagers.  You can bet on kids losing just about anything they own.  It must be a function of not having to pay for most things with their own money.  Well, it turns out that my pool partying buddy, Perry, has a lot in common with my kids.  On Monday morning, he realized that he was wearing a coat when he left home on Sunday but didn't arrive home with it.  He has had no luck tracking it down.  It seems that certain details of where we were after leaving Blue On Water are sketchy.  In other words, these memories have been lost.  I told Perry not to eat so much meat.

In any event, Perry's coat has taught him a valuable lesson.  His wife is busy attaching tags to all of his clothes so they will all now have his name and phone number on them.  I'm also wondering if his wife, Susan, blames me for all the bad things that happened to her husband on Sunday?  Sure, he lost some money.  He lost his coat.  He lost parts of his memory (from the meat, remember).  At least I made sure he didn't lose his way home.  I don't want to lose Perry as a friend, so I have a great idea for Susan that will surely make her forgive me.  Make Perry get a tattoo and have it read - If found, call Susan.  Some guys are just too good to lose.