"My Grandfather" And Pancho Villa

          I subbed for 3rd grade yesterday. My favorite grade; cowboys are still heroes. Short of a full day's lesson plan, I reverted to the standby, an essay. "My Grandfather"; "Write anything you want. If you don't have one, tell us your dream grandpa."  Then they read them. Touching. And I learned about all sorts of grand fathers. All but one, including two fictional ones, were cool and loved. Because most of their families still speak Spanish, we heard of a lot of old world (Mexico) cowboys.
          I learned as much from their faces as I did from their stories. As they read, it showed me again that grandpa, popi, grand dad and papa are names held precious to them. One lad talked with clear pride about his "grandfather" Pancho Villa. A few questions affirmed the lineage but we upgraded Pancho to G,G,G,grand father.  Do we, do they, care about our roots?  We revere those mysterious heroes from our history that offer us strength.  To some a bandit, to others a hero; it doesn't matter much to Pancho Villa's GGGgs.  What does matter is he has a history.  And Pancho Villa has generations that honor his name.
          How better to be reminded of the significance of grandfathers? ..."From the mouths of babes."