It takes only a few moments to remember

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/11/2018 (2759 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The “official version’’ of a song posted to YouTube and written as a tribute to honour our veterans has well over two million views today. And that’s just one of the versions of the tune.

It has been posted on Facebook, YouTube, released on CD and made into a musical production. Yet many may still not know the story behind the song or the inspiring story of the man who wrote it.

The song is called A Pittance of Time, performed by Nova Scotia-based singer/songwriter Terry Kelly. According to Terry, he was moved to write the song after an incident in a Dartmouth, N.S., drug store on Nov. 11, 1999.

While introducing his song to an audience, Terry explained that “the manager of this big drug store comes on the public address system and invites the customers to join her and her staff in honour of our veterans and our peacemakers…” for two minutes of silence.

“Eleven o’clock comes and the place goes dead quiet except for one man who is intent on finishing his transaction with the young clerk…he was pointing and shouting.

“There was a little girl with him and she said, ‘Daddy that was embarrassing. You were supposed to be quiet during that time’.”

Angered by the father who had failed to show respect, Terry channelled his emotions into A Pittance of Time.

His brother, Tony, who handles a lot of Terry’s correspondence, recently explained to me that Terry was looked after by mainly retired military women and men. 

“Terry considered these folks his ‘surrogate parents’ and was therefore more sensitive than many to the disrespect that was displayed…on that November 11th day,” Tony said.

Terry is blind, so his parents had to make the difficult decision to send him from his Newfoundland home at age seven to a school for the blind in Halifax. 

“Christmas and summer were the only times that Terry would get home to ‘the Rock’!” Tony said.

Blindness did not stop Terry from learning to play the accordion, clarinet, guitar and piano. He pursued a degree in psychology and later released seven recordings, winning many East Coast Music Awards. He also distinguished himself as an athlete.

This Remembrance Day, please:

“Take two minutes, would you mind?/It’s a pittance of time/For the boys and the girls who went over/In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.”

The video can be viewed on YouTube or at Terry’s website: www.Terry-Kelly.com 

Cheryl Girard is a community correspondent for West Kildonan. You can contact her at girard.cheryl@gmail.com

Cheryl Girard
West Kildonan community correspondent

Cheryl Girard was a community correspondent for West Kildonan.

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