2020 Life Logs, Day 108: Congratulations to Dr. Joshua Lee Martin
Date: Friday, April 17, 2020
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Chilly; High 45 degrees, Low 34 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
?
?
?
I received a text this morning announcing that my great nephew, Josh, was defending his thesis today and later in the day I received a text announcing that the defense was successful. Congratulations to Dr, Joshua Lee Martin. Josh is a writer, specifically a writer of poetry. I don’t get the chance to see him often as he lives in Georgia. But he was here in June to attend a writer’s workshop on Martha’s Vineyard. I got a few photos of him with Heather and Jed and boys. To celebrate his success today, I wrote a poem for him. Well, a poem of sorts. I don’t think I’ve ever written a poem in my life, but I share my attempts here to show how very proud of him, the grandson of my brother, the son of my nephew Tommy. Here’s my tribute.
He was once a little boy;
Bright-eyed and curious about the world.
He loved to read about history.
But did any of us ever think he would become a poet?
His Great Grandfather Martin had no formal schooling.
His Great Grandmother Martin finished eighth grade before getting married.
She had little education, but she was a storyteller supreme.
Maybe that is where some of the little boy’s poetic talent originated?
His Grandpa Dickel was no poet, but he did have a way with words!
As does his father.
His Grandma Conda smothered him with unconditional love that words can’t express.
He lost his biological mother in a tragic accident when he was just five.
His father struggled to live on with two little boys.
Grandma and Grandpa Martin came to live with them;
A grandfather who offered love,
A grandmother whose love was so deep, so true, so strong,
That it carried all of them through.
The little boy continued to be a quiet child, those eyes always penetrating and questioning.
Then a second mother came into his life, pouring love into the void left after his mother’s death.
With the love and support of a father and a second mother,
That little boy became a man.
He became a man that expresses his soul through the words he writes.
Today that man became Dr. Joshua Lee Martin;
A man of letters;
A man who will move his generation forward with his words.
I am so proud of that little boy, now that man with a PhD.
And I know my brother, his Grandfather Dickel, is smiling down from the heavens above.
His Grandmother Conda was the core that held their family together.
She loved that little boy so much.
I know, too, that she is looking down and bursting with enough pride to make the heavens explode.
Congratulations, to mom and dad, Marilou and Tommy;
Congratulations to Dr. Joshua Lee Martin.
Carry on, my man . . .
