Brandon, Brandon, Brandon
Brandon, Brandon, Brandon
Brandon, Brandon, Brandon
Hearing your name called three times, in a calm tone, with a bowed head, shaking it back and forward, more than likely it indicates that someone is disappointed in you. Well, that's how I feel about Brandon right now, in addition to that, a mixture of pride and satisfaction. I'll explain later. Brandon is the grandson that I wrote about in a previous hub, entitled, "I Know What You're Going Through,"in order to completely understand what I'm getting at you might want to go back and read that hub. I also spoke about him in my "Worst Grandmother," hub. If you'll recall I called him, sneaky. I'll explain that later too. Brandon is barely twelve years old, but as I stated in a previous hub, he's going on thirty, sometimes, and at other times, going on five.
Well, Brandon did something that surprised me, in addition it gave me a measure of pride and satisfaction, but I was a little disappointed too. Do you call that double talk, (LOL)?
Brandon spent the summer with his grandfather, my ex-husband. He has expressed to us that he thoroughly enjoyed himself. To him, a summer never to forget. Now, as to why I'm, disappointed. He wrote, (on paper, with a pen),his mother, two letters, yes, I said wrote, (the lost art). Disappointed, and surprised, because, he almost got me this time, I didn't know he could write that well, I don't mean his penmanship, but his ability to express himself the way that he did. You see, Brandon has been turning out substandard work at school. I always knew that his verbal skills were well beyond his years, but his writing, never. At least, that is what he has shown us, these last few years. Pride, because of his over all ability to put pen to paper and make it sound so intelligent. Satisfaction, because, I now know, that, what we've been trying to teach him has somehow penetrated.
Okay, to the sneaky part, think about this now, he has been leading us to believe that he could not express himself on paper, when all the while he's been hiding this ability. Making us do what all parents have done, since the dawn of time, write their reports, or at least let them copy them in part or completely, verbatim, from the writings of others. Brandon, Brandon, Brandon.
I'm going to, with his mothers permission, reprint his two letters and let you see what I mean. Now, to some of you, this might not be impressive, and it would not have been for me, if I had not seen some of his written reports. Now, when I say write, I don't mean typed, no, he wrote them with his own hands. These are actually his words, not his grandfather's. If you've read my previous hubs, he calls me, mom as well as his mother mom, and he call his grandfather dad as well as his father dad. That's because he lived with us most of his life and never called us grands. Just setting this up for you, here goes.
The letters
Letter #1 (verbatim)
Dear mom,
Dad and I decided to write and send you a few pictures. Yesterday , Mom, (meaning me), and I went to a meeting then returned home for dad to pick me up and go to a family pool party. I met quite a few of my distant cousins that I have never seen before or even knew I had. I only picked up a few of the names. To my surprise I was one of the older ones in the pool. The food present at the party was delightful. I even picked up a to go plate. I know you are surprised to get this letter from me, but dad is behind this whole thing. I miss you and California and I love you very much.
Sincerely,
Brandon
Now, these are his words, not his grandfathers, I know because he, (dad),doesn't express himself that way. Notice, I didn't correct the punctuation. Oh, by the way I happened to be in the Atlanta at the same time, (hence the reference to me in the letter), and I didn't know a thing about it until I arrived back home.
Letter #2 (verbatim)
Hi mom
It is around 4:00 and me and dad are lying around the house. A friend of dad's swung by the house and has invited dad and I to dinner. So far today I have managed to finish tennis lessons, take grandma back home from the community center.
As you may conclude that I have had a day to relax and recline. My plans for the weekend include going to a picnic with Aunt Anne and plans beyond that are to visit stone mountain which is a popular amusement park in Atlanta. I was going to see If I could go with Anissa to Stone Mountain some time.
Sincerely
Brandon
Now, look at that, this young man didn't even misspell a word, and he didn't even have spell check............Is a grandmother's pride showing through here? I wrote it just the way that he did, little punctuation, and capitalization errors, etc. Those things can easily be fixed. I don't know about you, but I was thoroughly impressed. He will be on HubPages soon, I promise.
An open letter to Brandon
Young man, I got you now. Never again will you be able to turn in substandard reports. I know what you are capable of, and will accept nothing less than the your best. Remember, I told you about the genes that you descended from, owing to that you got caught. You almost got away with this one though. I will be alert to your comings and goings henceforth. So buck up bud, I'll be watching you! Most of all, I love you, and I am proud of you!
Conclusion
I don't know about you, but I would conclude from these letters, that the art or letter WRITING, is an art that should be revived. My daughter wants to frame these letters, and I can't blame her. I even asked him to write me one, I'm still waiting, if he does, I'll frame mine too. Why don't we start a campaign to write at least one letter a month to someone we love. Hand write, not type. Even if it's illegible, the thought will certainly count. I plan to write my first letter tomorrow. Anyone, else that writes, or plan to write, let me know.
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© 2009 Alfreta Sailor