Driving Forth Darkness

This morning we were gazing out at the dark skies and constant downpour that was turning our yard into a pond. It was almost 9am, three hours after sunrise and still it seemed as dark as dawn. We were steeped in darkness.

Then J.J. pipes up, "It's just like the Smith Family motto: 'Tenebras expellit et hostes' which means, 'He drives forth darkness and the foe.' I looked at him as if he were from another planet and thought, "Who is this child? What Sci Fi. book has he been reading that's giving him ideas like this? Does he really understand how profound his words are?"

So I asked, "What ARE you talking about, Son?"

He rattled off the same thing, 'Tenebras expellit et hostes, the Smith Family motto.'

"Do you mean Smith like Grandma and Grandpa Smith?"

"Yes!" he replied as if to say, "Of course! What planet are YOU from?"

He went on to explain that he had a dream last night about Grandpa which caused him to remember a promise he had made about reading the Smith family genealogy (a Christmas gift) every morning. So he was reading Grandpa's genealogy this morning and saw the Smith coat of arms and the family motto.

Sovann said, "We don't have a Pen family motto. Maybe we should make one up."

I really like my family of origin's motto. I love it when my kids teach me cool stuff like "Tenebras expellit et hostes."