| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009 9:41 pm |
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Living 
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Grandparents give teens a history lesson they'll never forget Last winter, a decades-old birthday promise encountered teenage cousins with a sense of humor.The result was a memory-rich trip steeped in history, including a visit to Omaha Beach in France, scene of D-Day, June 6, 1944. The photos you see here were taken on that trip by Katie Hawkinson, 16, of Sultan. For me, the tale begins with Mable Coon, 90, who wrote saying she didn't hear well enough to understand all the details of the story but that I might want to check it out. "It's cute and funny and shows we have some clever kids growing up around here," she wrote. She included the telephone number of her Sultan neighbors, Dolly and Tom Green, retired blueberry farmers. Tom Green filled me in on the rest. He and his wife, Dolly, made the 16th birthday for each of their five children special by taking the birthday child out for dinner at the place of their choosing. Sometimes it was a hamburger joint, he said. Other times, the Space Needle. "We always let them choose." When the Greens' grandchildren came along, the tradition continued. The first grandchild chose the Space Needle. Last year two grandchildren, Brad Green and Katie Hawkinson, hit the magic number. Both are students at Northwest Academy in Snohomish. For a while, Tom Green said, neither one could decide on a dinner place. Then one night, the two, who live close by with their families, came for a special visit. They bore big grins and a list headed: "16 reasons why you should take us to Paris for dinner." Items such as "Katie can get extra credit in French class." "It will be a living history lesson." "Brad can play golf with Grandpa in a foreign country." "We inherited the travel bug from you guys." "Oh, what memories we'll make and the times you'll cherish with your sweet grandchildren." Their intended joke drew lots of laughter from Grandma and Grandpa. A few weeks later, the joke was on the kids. The Greens have traveled internationally many times through the years, Tom Green said. More than 30 countries, including India, China and Africa, where he serves on the board of an international missionary fellowship supporting a farm in Kenya. Throughout their travels they had accumulated enough frequent flier miles to cover four tickets to Europe. After some serious family discussions, the birthday wish was a go, but with history lessons as part of the package. No arguments about that from the two teens, who both said they were "overwhelmed" by this birthday gift. The quartet landed in Belgium the last week in March. They rented a car and drove to Amsterdam to stay with friends. The history lessons began with visits to the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. Anne Frank's childhood diary became the source of a bestselling book and movie. She died in 1945 in a concentration camp. The following day they spent at the home of Corrie Ten Boom in Haarlem. In 1942, during the Nazi occupation, this Christian family built a secret room in their home where they hid Jewish families until they could be smuggled out of the country. The family was arrested in 1944 and sent to concentration camps. Corrie survived and wrote a bestselling book, "The Hiding Place." History was all around the Greens as they drove through the countryside from the Netherlands into France. On their fourth morning, as they approached the seaside in Normandy, all were aware of the thousands who were wounded or died at "bloody Omaha." Tom Green saw the impact on one American family in his Ballard neighborhood. He was 12, playing with his friends one Sunday, when an axe fell off a shed wall, cutting deep into his arm. His mother took him down the street to the home of Dr. William McClain. The physician told her he'd meet them at his office. "He put me on a gurney. His hands were shaking and his eyes bloodshot. I thought he might be drunk. But one little prick on the gash for anesthetic and he stitched me up, no pain. "Later I found out his oldest son was in the second wave at Normandy. His landing barge took a direct hit. His body was never found. Dr. McClain had received the telegram notifying him of his son's death that morning." Ten years ago, when the Greens first visited the Normandy American Cemetery at St. Laurent-sur-Mer, he found the name of Dr. William McClain Jr. on the memorial wall listing the thousands of men killed or missing after the D-Day assault. He's never forgotten the physician, who in the midst of incredible grief, still found time to care for a young boy. Sixteen-year-old Brad vividly remembers those hours the family spent at the American Cemetery. "When you stand there on the hilltop looking down at the beach and the ocean and think 'Wow, all of these men died here' and then you see the white crosses lined up, row after row. It's a lot different then reading about it in a history book. "Even though there were lots of people there, it's quiet, very quiet. The same way it is around the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.," he said. Those lessons in history, seen up close and personal, were what the elder Greens hoped their grandchildren would take away from this eight-day trip that ended with two days in London before their flight home. But first there was a little matter of dinner in Paris. By the time they drove from Normandy into the City of Lights and found their bed-and-breakfast accommodations, it was far too late for dinner, Tom Green said. They had two days in Paris, touring its most famous attractions. When it came time for birthday dinner, however, he was ill and just needed to stay in and sleep. Grandma took the grandkids to a neighborhood bistro that was highly recommended. Although Katie's French lessons had helped a lot in general conversation, she confessed the menu was way out of her league. So when dinner, presumed to be a steakburger, arrived it had a surprise twist: no bun and a very runny egg on top. One more memory to add to a new list these grandchildren will hold in their hearts forever: great things we did with our grandparents on a trip that was the best history lesson ever. Linda Bryant Smith; ljbryantsmith@yahoo.com. |
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