The Voice of my Grandmother
Once upon a time when I was young
If you weren’t married by 18
You’re a dried up spinster
So barely sixteen when I was wed
To the most successful villager
Oh boy was he arrogant and sinister
Physically and verbally abusive was he
Bruised and battered was I
So I ran to my uncle and fled
Requested for a divorce immediately
He demanded in exchange, my son.
A year passed, then two, then three
I worked as a maid for a British family
One day, a delivery man stopped and spoke to me
He was handsome, tanned and well built
He worked as a driver for Fraser & Neave
Said he was attracted to my sister at first
But fell madly in love with me
We got married
And grew a big family
In a tiny little attap hut
Life was hard with so many mouths to feed
But we found happiness in each other
That was all we believed we need.
Fifty years of marriage
And suddenly he passed away
Succumbed to kidney failure
That’s what the doctors say
All I knew that he was in pain
Those very last few days
Now I’m left with my seven children
All married but the fifth
Sixteen grandchildren
Aged eight till thirty-four
My biggest headache is grandchild number one
The eldest still yet unmarried granddaughter
Asked her if she had a boyfriend
She shook her head, alas she had none
Two great-grandchildren and another boy on the way
Praised be to Allah I’m blessed with love everyday.
Salsachica's Ramblings 
Awww, your grandmother’s voice is lovely.
Thank you oh so much! I asked my mom and grandma first if it was ok to divulge that much. It’s heavy stuff
It is but it’s a great story.
Thanks! It pays off staying up with her and talking till 3am when we go on holidays
🙂
And a lovely photo.
Thank you! 🙂
This is beautiful! Nostalgic for me.
Thanks so much for your kind words Afie! 🙂
Ahhh… Nice big family… Nice story…
That’s just the immediate family, my great-grandfather had 4 wives, I haven’t included the rest of the extended family that’ll amount to almost a thousand. Haha