Admiring from Afar
I want to tell her about the time,
when I wished upon a star,
that I could spend one night with her,
instead of admiring her from afar.
There she is.
That girl. You see? The one right there!
The one with the gorgeous green eyes
and that stunningly shining hair?
Wow, she looks amazing;
more adorable than ever.
Will I ever get a shot with her?
Slim chance, but I never say never.
She drives me crazy!
She is always on my mind.
I can get so excited thinking about her,
that it takes me hours to unwind.
I know I have to do something
to shake this crush on her,
but that seems pretty impossible
because I love her simple and pure.
The truth is burning inside me.
This secret is so hard to keep,
Because every time I see her smile,
my heart begins to leap.
I want to go up to her badly,
and find out if she feels the same.
It’s doubtful though that she would like me.
She probably thinks I’m lame.
Someday, I want to be the lucky one,
and quit watching from the side.
I want to make her smile and laugh,
or at least I want to try.
There she goes.
That girl. Did you see her? The one who was just right there?
The one with the gorgeous green eyes,
Who constantly holds my stare?
I want to take her out one time,
go driving in my car.
Or take a walk along the beach,
while someone else admires from afar.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Heritage Paper - "Freedom Fighter"
Freedom Fighter
“James! Did mom and dad tell you that cool story about grandpa flying jets during World War II?” It’s so awesome! Ask them to tell you about it!” said my little brother excitedly.
“Alright man I’ll ask them.” I walked around the house for a while looking for my parents, but it was taking so long to find them because I still didn’t know my way around my uncle Rick’s mansion yet. Finally, I spotted them sitting in a corner and shouted, “Mom! Dad! Tell me the story about grandpa!”
“Pull up a chair my boy and brace yourself for a fantastic tale about your incredible grandpa,” replied my dad.
“Ha-ha yeah that’s what I like to hear. Let me hear this great story you speak of,”
I responded with a smile spreading across my face.
“Your grandpa, and my father, Lyle Dowsett, was a courageous, honorable, and ingenious man who served our great country in ways that people will never forget. Perhaps the most significant way he served our country was his duties as a pilot of a fighter-plane during World War II. He flew 227 air missions, all of which were successful either because he shot down the enemies or simply because he came home alive after each one. The other main thing my father brought to this world was the invention of the travel-trailers. He built and established the first-ever travel-trailers and made a business selling them after the war was over. A travel-trailer looked like a motor home, but it had to be towed behind a car or a truck. As wonderful as the travel-trailers were, the story I’m going to tell is about my old man fighting in the war.
World War II started in December 1941 when the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. Grandpa Lyle signed up to fight in the war immediately after hearing about the attack. After intense training to become a pilot of a fighter-plane, he was ready for live action in early 1943. Now, there are a number of stories that my father told me of his glory days in the war but my favorite story of them all was this one I’m about to tell you. His plane was a P-47 Thunderbolt, which was an advanced aircraft at the time; It was heavily armored and loaded with eight 30-millimeter machine guns. On one of his missions down in the Philippines, he had orders to shoot down as many of the other planes in the area. As soon as he was in the same air space as the enemy planes, he became extremely vigilant and sharply observed the skies for a sign of danger because there was no radar system in his plane. Soon, he did in fact distinguish a Japanese fighter-plane and switched quickly into attack mode. He began firing his weapons at the target immediately after getting within range. The pilot of the Japanese plane was smart though, and as soon as he knew he was targeted, he slipped on a parachute and prepared to evacuate the plane. He jumped out seconds before your grandpa blew up his plane, however your grandpa was no fool. He noticed the pilot jump out and wanted to make sure that the captain went down with his plane so he quickly descended the plane as fast as possible trying to catch up to the man parachuting below him. To the man’s dismay, my father did catch up to him before he hit the ground. My father drove the nose of his plane right into the man and caught the parachute on the nose. He continued to fly the plane, with the man holding on to his parachute for dear life. Your grandpa took him on one hell of a ride before he finally fell loose from the parachute into the ocean and died. My father and his men kept the parachute, and cut it up into scarves for souvenirs of their incredible mission that day.”
“Wow! That’s so awesome dad! Grandpa was a hero!” I exclaimed when my father wrapped up his story.
“You know son, you’re right. He was a hero. He had such an amazing passion for flying that plane and such patriotism for our country that he was fighting for not only his own freedom, but for the entire country’s. I believe that a hero is someone who is willing to stand up for not only himself, but for others too, and that was the type of person my father was, and the type of person I want you to be,” my dad explained.
“Thanks dad for telling me this awesome story! It’s so cool that your father was a hero of our country. Hopefully one day, I can be a hero too…just like grandpa.”
“James! Did mom and dad tell you that cool story about grandpa flying jets during World War II?” It’s so awesome! Ask them to tell you about it!” said my little brother excitedly.
“Alright man I’ll ask them.” I walked around the house for a while looking for my parents, but it was taking so long to find them because I still didn’t know my way around my uncle Rick’s mansion yet. Finally, I spotted them sitting in a corner and shouted, “Mom! Dad! Tell me the story about grandpa!”
“Pull up a chair my boy and brace yourself for a fantastic tale about your incredible grandpa,” replied my dad.
“Ha-ha yeah that’s what I like to hear. Let me hear this great story you speak of,”
I responded with a smile spreading across my face.
“Your grandpa, and my father, Lyle Dowsett, was a courageous, honorable, and ingenious man who served our great country in ways that people will never forget. Perhaps the most significant way he served our country was his duties as a pilot of a fighter-plane during World War II. He flew 227 air missions, all of which were successful either because he shot down the enemies or simply because he came home alive after each one. The other main thing my father brought to this world was the invention of the travel-trailers. He built and established the first-ever travel-trailers and made a business selling them after the war was over. A travel-trailer looked like a motor home, but it had to be towed behind a car or a truck. As wonderful as the travel-trailers were, the story I’m going to tell is about my old man fighting in the war.
World War II started in December 1941 when the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. Grandpa Lyle signed up to fight in the war immediately after hearing about the attack. After intense training to become a pilot of a fighter-plane, he was ready for live action in early 1943. Now, there are a number of stories that my father told me of his glory days in the war but my favorite story of them all was this one I’m about to tell you. His plane was a P-47 Thunderbolt, which was an advanced aircraft at the time; It was heavily armored and loaded with eight 30-millimeter machine guns. On one of his missions down in the Philippines, he had orders to shoot down as many of the other planes in the area. As soon as he was in the same air space as the enemy planes, he became extremely vigilant and sharply observed the skies for a sign of danger because there was no radar system in his plane. Soon, he did in fact distinguish a Japanese fighter-plane and switched quickly into attack mode. He began firing his weapons at the target immediately after getting within range. The pilot of the Japanese plane was smart though, and as soon as he knew he was targeted, he slipped on a parachute and prepared to evacuate the plane. He jumped out seconds before your grandpa blew up his plane, however your grandpa was no fool. He noticed the pilot jump out and wanted to make sure that the captain went down with his plane so he quickly descended the plane as fast as possible trying to catch up to the man parachuting below him. To the man’s dismay, my father did catch up to him before he hit the ground. My father drove the nose of his plane right into the man and caught the parachute on the nose. He continued to fly the plane, with the man holding on to his parachute for dear life. Your grandpa took him on one hell of a ride before he finally fell loose from the parachute into the ocean and died. My father and his men kept the parachute, and cut it up into scarves for souvenirs of their incredible mission that day.”
“Wow! That’s so awesome dad! Grandpa was a hero!” I exclaimed when my father wrapped up his story.
“You know son, you’re right. He was a hero. He had such an amazing passion for flying that plane and such patriotism for our country that he was fighting for not only his own freedom, but for the entire country’s. I believe that a hero is someone who is willing to stand up for not only himself, but for others too, and that was the type of person my father was, and the type of person I want you to be,” my dad explained.
“Thanks dad for telling me this awesome story! It’s so cool that your father was a hero of our country. Hopefully one day, I can be a hero too…just like grandpa.”
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