"THIS - IS MY SON!"

Happy 37th!

© - Tom Hyland - 09-01-09


‘Twas the Second of September, 1972 -
Carroll County Hospital in Maryland, Where -
A Baby Boy Greeted the World Anew!
Our Second Present from God - You!

In the Wee Hours of that Morn -
In the All-but-Empty Waiting Area -
I Paced until you were Born!
“Mom and Son are Fine” was the Doctor’s Line.

How Happy! How Exuberant!
How Proud I Was!
Gee Fellas - Look What I Did!
Have a Cigar! It’s A Boy!

Not long after, came The Christening -
Thomas Kenny Hyland, The Third!
My Dad’s Namesake - Me -
Passed on Our Name - For Eternity!

A Wee Little Lad You Were -
No Hair - No Fuzz - No Fur!
We Both Kept Checking - To Be Sure -
Yep, All Parts Were There - No Less, No More!


Aaah! How Well I Remember!



Ear-Aches Plagued You, as a Tiny Tot -
Blocked lil Eustachian Tubes was your Lot -
At Eighteen Months, in Bed you Laid -
Prepped for Surgery - I Knelt and Prayed!

GOD! Let Me Take His Place!
As Tears rolled down my Worried Face.
A Tiny Tube in a Tiny Arm -
Lord Protect him - From All Harm!

All Went Well - I’m Glad to Tell -
Happy Were - Mom, and Dad, and Ann -
Although we could not Understand -
Somehow - It was God’s Plan!

Pre-school, then Kindergarten -
Sacred Heart of Glyndon was the Place -
Where Mom Faithfully took you each Day -
So you would Learn - how to Play!

The Years Flew by - Quick as a Wink -
Elementary - First Communion - a Time to Think.
Talents Galore began to Emerge -
Gifted? Yes! We Did Encourage!


Aaah! How Well I Remember!


Percussion - Drums - and then Marimba -
John Locke, and Peabody School of Music -
Lessons, and Practice - and Paradiddles -
Back then - you Loved Skittles!

Yes - You Were Chosen to Play the Drum
In - "Pied Piper's Fantasy' - By Gum!
With James Galway and The BSO -
And I Video-Taped The Whole Show!

Baltimore School for The Arts -
Both You and Ann Did Attend -
The Russian Saber Dance - was for your Jury -
You were Magnificent - and in your Glory!

On to Perry Hall High School -
A Knight in the Chorus for Camelot -
Dad and Son with Swords and Shields -
We Sang - and Danced in “Fie!” - We Were Hot!

For your Senior Play - you Learned to Tap -
“Up On Your Toes” - You were Quite Dapper -
That’s My Son - That Tap-Tap-Tapper!
Your Family could not be - Any Happier!

And, as we Watched -
The Story Unfold -
We Were Quite Impressed -
You Were So Bold!


Aaah! How Well I Remember!


On to Loyola College - More to Learn -
Presidential Scholarship - Certainly Not “Chopped Liver”
We had no Money to Burn -
We were Blessed by - Every Giver!

Up Early in the Morning -
You went to ‘Crew’ -
Good Disciplines were Taught -
And You learned them Too!

Then, as a Baritone, you Sang in ‘Chimes’
“Hoist Up The John B’s Sails”
“See How The Mainsail Sets...”
I was SO PROUD - No Regrets!

Graduated with Honors -
Majored in Pre-Med -
Flew to Germany, then The Emerald Isle -
Lord - Those Pictures - Made me Smile!

Then, there was that Brief Stay in Marietta, Georgia -
Life Chiropractic School - Not Your Style -
A Whole Two Weeks?
And Many, Many a Mile!


Aaah! How Well I Remember!


You Met a Lass - and Fell in Love -
Made Her a Ring - and She said YES!
A Trip to Thailand -
You were Both - Doubly Blessed!

On to Palmer’s Chiropractic School -
Way Out in Chicago, on Roosevelt Boulevard,
And We Saw ‘Blue Man Group’ in ’96 -
While You and Laurie Worked very Hard -

Back to Baltimore in ’97 -
Downs Park Wedding - by The Chesapeake -
A Marriage Made in Heaven!
So Beautiful! So Lovely! So Mild! So Meek!

Honeymoon - Then - Graduation -
On to Greener Pastures -
Moves - Hither and Yon -
And - Happily Ever Afters!

Established Now - With your Own Shingle -
WHOLE CHIROPRACTIC HEALTHCARE -
Thomas K. Hyland Robertson, DC -
How Proud You Have Made Me!


Aaah! How Well I Remember!



HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY - SON!


Love Always - Dad.