My Heritage, My Honor

There is something within us
That tells us all we will ever know about ourselves
A destiny that reveals
Where we will be born, where we will live and where we will die

Some men are drawn to oceans,
Others are drawn to a land that is flat,
My ancestors were drawn to a new land
A country that was young and barely born
They first settled in Lower Canada, later called Quebec
Then moved and settled in Upper Canada, later called Ontario

Here they endured and they prevailed
Through flood and famine, malaria and scarlet fever,
Through drought and forest fire, whooping cough and loneliness,
Through Indian wars, Civil Wars and World Wars
Through the Great Depression
They endured and they prevailed

Backwards in time I search
Starting with mother and father
Strength and love came together here.
So not the same they did not seem a pair
Bound together they were so much one
All I ever want is what they've had so long,
And live so well
Certainly a story to be told!

To all my Grandfathers and all my Grandmothers
In memory I touch your faces
A distance from me now, I feel you near
I piece together not just dates
But trials, big and small
The history of your years too soon past away
But you will endure through all of time

I stare at your pictures
And glimpse into your past
I see all the small ships that brought you to this country,
Strong brave men cutting new land
Strong brave women who faced a frontier and made it home.

A Grandmother who gives up her boys
With a short note and heavy laden heart
She packs a picture of a father who too soon passes away
Sends them on a voyage across an ocean
In hope of a better future in this new land

A Grandfather healthy and fit
Works the land with 2 strong hands
He will loose his wife to a now curable disease
And cannot bear the loss
Two days later he will join her of a broken heart

And close as family
Our aunts, uncles and cousins
Linked to us in ties as strong as blood.
All guiding me on my journey
Through memories as clear as yesterday
They bring the past alive with every word spoken
The past flowing into the present,
The present blending with yesterday.

They are all a part My Heritage, My Honor
And in my time I have come to know them
A journey through history
Uncovers secrets and reveals hardships
Puts skin and flesh back on their names

I have walked the land
In the footsteps of all my fathers,
Back in time to where the first one trod
And stopped, saw the sky, felt the wind,
Bent to touch the earth and smell the dirt
And called this home.

Grandfather, Grandmother
Father, Mother,
Grow too, the sons and daughters,
To remember days gone by
And walk the old paths,

To look back in pride
In honored heritage.
To hear its laughter and its song,
To grow, to stand and be themselves,
One day remembered.

I have walked the land,
In the footsteps of all my fathers,
Now a piece of you lives in me
And a piece of me lives in mine
I saw yesterday and it was good!

Grandson

My Heritage, My Honor

There is something within us
That tells us all we will ever know about ourselves
A destiny that reveals
Where we will be born, where we will live and where we will die

Some men are drawn to oceans,
Others are drawn to a land that is flat,
My ancestors were drawn to a new land
A country that was young and barely born
They first settled in Lower Canada, later called Quebec
Then moved and settled in Upper Canada, later called Ontario

Here they endured and they prevailed
Through flood and famine, malaria and scarlet fever,
Through drought and forest fire, whooping cough and loneliness,
Through Indian wars, Civil Wars and World Wars
Through the Great Depression
They endured and they prevailed

Backwards in time I search
Starting with mother and father
Strength and love came together here.
So not the same they did not seem a pair
Bound together they were so much one
All I ever want is what they've had so long,
And live so well
Certainly a story to be told!

To all my Grandfathers and all my Grandmothers
In memory I touch your faces
A distance from me now, I feel you near
I piece together not just dates
But trials, big and small
The history of your years too soon past away
But you will endure through all of time

I stare at your pictures
And glimpse into your past
I see all the small ships that brought you to this country,
Strong brave men cutting new land
Strong brave women who faced a frontier and made it home.

A Grandmother who gives up her boys
With a short note and heavy laden heart
She packs a picture of a father who too soon passes away
Sends them on a voyage across an ocean
In hope of a better future in this new land

A Grandfather healthy and fit
Works the land with 2 strong hands
He will loose his wife to a now curable disease
And cannot bear the loss
Two days later he will join her of a broken heart

And close as family
Our aunts, uncles and cousins
Linked to us in ties as strong as blood.
All guiding me on my journey
Through memories as clear as yesterday
They bring the past alive with every word spoken
The past flowing into the present,
The present blending with yesterday.

They are all a part My Heritage, My Honor
And in my time I have come to know them
A journey through history
Uncovers secrets and reveals hardships
Puts skin and flesh back on their names

I have walked the land
In the footsteps of all my fathers,
Back in time to where the first one trod
And stopped, saw the sky, felt the wind,
Bent to touch the earth and smell the dirt
And called this home.

Grandfather, Grandmother
Father, Mother,
Grow too, the sons and daughters,
To remember days gone by
And walk the old paths,

To look back in pride
In honored heritage.
To hear its laughter and its song,
To grow, to stand and be themselves,
One day remembered.

I have walked the land,
In the footsteps of all my fathers,
Now a piece of you lives in me
And a piece of me lives in mine
I saw yesterday and it was good!

Grandson