A Time Long Ago
Sixty-seven years ago, when the 1940's began,
it was the fifth birthday of my Grandma, Sally Ann.
Her days were full of hopscotch and school,
when records were still valuable and the radio was cool.
Punishments were harsher, and teachers were strict;
one foul word, and you would surely get licked.
After school, she and her friends would caterwaul and play
until it was dark and nearing the end of the day.
When the U.S. joined the war in ‘41,
her life would change, and it was the end of the fun.
Butter and sugar were rationed, & air raid drills were common,
but she supported the troops, the war, and the bombing.
Her uncle was drafted and eventually sent off to the fight
as a medic who saved lives through the day and night.
In the Pacific he landed on beaches full of Japanese
Miles and miles from home and in foreign seas.
Back home, where jobs needed to be filled,
there were machines to be run, and fields to be tilled.
In New York, her aunts took the jobs of men
and worked just as hard, sometimes ‘til 9 or 10.
Until 1945 my grandma continued her wartime capers,
when the paper boy came with a special edition paper.
Yelling and whooping as if he wasn’t sober,
At the top of his lungs screaming "THE WAR IS OVER!"
Parties ensued and parades followed,
And a sad uncle came home looking sad and sorrowed.
He could not sleep, his dreams jaundiced and disturbed,
by the violence and gore that had just occurred.
School went back to normal and curfews were no more,
Kids could go outside and the days were no longer a bore.
But since these times our country has grown and rose,
The 1940's having long come to a close.
~ Forrest H., 6th grade
North Bethesda MS
