Jitterbug

My grandmother was a wedding crasher in the 1940s, and this is her story

Sitting in her rocking chair,
Chihuahua on her lap,
a sweet little old woman
with a smile she'd not hold back.

I looked up at my grandma,
asked her how she got this way.
"I just jitterbugged on by
and that got me through the day."

"I was once your age," she said.
"And we knew how to have fun:
crashed weddings on the weekends
and our friends were number one.

"We all lived a carefree life.
We didn't worry about the why
We had a different kind of "YOLO."
We just jitterbugged on by."

"There must be more than that," I begged.
"You're always so content."
With this woman, this wise old soul,
hours I could have spent.

And my grandmother went on:

"My sisters and I were the kind
that you kids would call 'tight':
we were each others' 'BFFs'
We didn't ever fight.

"If we went on dates, you know,
our sisters were there too.

"That's how I met Ed," she smiled.
"It may sound strange to you.

"I was out with someone else.
My girlfriend was with Ed.
Little did I know back then
it was me that he would wed.

"My friend did not kiss him goodnight,
And he looked a little sad.
A friend and I kissed him for her
'Cause we felt a little bad.

"Before too long, that Ed was mine.
Daddy said, 'That boy has class.'
You can bet my daddy approved.
That sharp boy, Ed, had passed.

"When we ate popcorn at the movies,
and grease clung unto him,
an immaculate white handkerchief
came forth to clean his skin.

"And then I knew I loved him.
I knew he would be mine.
I enjoyed his company
as we jitterbugged on by.

"He wasn't home all the time,
but I could suppress my sigh.
He provided for us all.
We just jitterbugged on by.

"Here I am, all my kids are gone.
I look back at it - oh my.
The best days of my life were spent
just jitterbugging on by."

"Kids don't jitterbug no more, Grandma.
Grandma, what else you got?"
"...Besides what I've said before,
I really can't say a lot.

"'Cause the way kids live their lives today
reflects the way they dance:
Fast, mindless, thrusting about
You kids don't stand a chance.

"In sixty years, you'll be old as me.
You'll see your friends and sigh.
They'll never look like your grandma,
who jitterbugged on by."

Reviews

[Sioranth Smith]

Wow, this is absolutely breathtaking. The imagery and feeling behind the words here had me smiling and feeling wistful about times gone by when people took greater pleasure in going slower and enjoying simpler things. This reminded me of my "Mom-Mom" who had the same outlook on life. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Lyn Anderson]

I admire this type of work - sigh - I am not great at paying tribute to my loved ones with words - weird, I know, my best work is kind of spiteful and humorous. At any rate, great flow, good wording, nice repetition.