Tante Drea Remembers - A Jaci and Dottie Story

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Tante Drea Remembers…
A Jaci and Dottie Story

 

* * *

Drea looked at the sleeping girls in the back seat. Time enough to get them into the house and to bed. She smiled as she thought of another dance a long time before; a time and a place that held memories, to be sure, even if they were entirely bittersweet.

 

* * *

“Can…can I dance with you?” The boy looked at the pretty girl with his head down and eyes up; an awkward if entirely common stance. He didn’t bother to wait for the reply since all the replies were the same.

“Robin…can I?”

“No!”

“Cindy…can I?”

“No!”

“Sue?”

“No!”

The only girl who might have said yes never went to dances; Nancy preferred instead being home to read a book or do sewing than being just once more awkward and too-tall in a gym filled with pretty girls. A missed opportunity to be sure, but the boy understood; he never felt comfortable either; not around girls for sure, but mostly in his own skin. The odd and shameful feelings of wonder and amazement upon seeing a girl in his class wear shiny hose and the uncomfortable frustration when she asked what he was looking at. What had been really a complement of sorts was taken the wrong way and earned him a rude shove from a protective suitor.

“Robin?” The name echoed in his head. There was something so strange but nice about the feelings he had. Those stirrings of feeling close; not as a suitor, but as a sister. A feeling which quickly turned to embarrassed shame when he realized just what and how he felt about Robin d’Artaglia; how he wanted to be just like her. Not the first time for those feelings, but the first time in understanding just what those feelings meant.

* * *

“Tante?” Jaci whispered from the back seat. “Are we home yet?”

“Yes, honey. We’re home.” Drea echoed the soft word but Dottie was already stirring as well.

“Do we have to go to bed?” She looked at Jaci; the conspiratorial grin on Jaci’s face nudged Dottie only a little since she wanted to stay up to talk. Both girls plead with wide-open eyes and silly grins and batting eyelashes like an old movie. Drea sighed and nodded yes to the plea and a few moments later they were getting ready for at least a reasonably extended bedtime. All three sat on the couch; Drea was at one end, her legs curled up beneath her.

“You should have been there.” Dottie said. “It was so much fun.”

“You should have seen Dottie,” Jaci said with a big smile and a small giggle. The two regaled her with the various wonderful moments that lifted them throughout the evening. In a while they had run out of energy and were just smiling and giggling. Drea smiled at them and grabbed their hands; walking them to bed. In a moment they were tucked in and seconds later they were fast asleep.

“You should have been there,” she heard Dottie mumble in her sleep.

“Yes, honey.” She walked back and kissed them on their foreheads before turning out the light. She sighed a quiet sigh and wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her chenille robe.

“I should have,” she said finally as she walked out of the room, remembering a sad and scared and confused boy long ago. And she thanked God that these two would have many more dances and many more times to become exactly who they knew they were meant to be.

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Comments

Oh tante!

Dear, I'm sure you have a few dances left in you too! You just have to be willing to try hon. Big Hugs, Taarpa

yeah

Tante Drea writes about us!

Together again, for the first time...

Ole Ulfson's picture

Three of my favorite characters, and three of my favorite authors!

May your life have many dances...

Ole

We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!

Gender rights are the new civil rights!

Does a happy dance

Tante wrote a story ! Yay!!!!

And a lovely story it is....

DogSig.png

I love these tales.

Thank you Drea. Tears on a Saturday morning not quite happy, not quite sad. I always love your beautiful writing. Love, Jenn.


I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

I keep telling myself

It is never too late.

It is a promise that helps me to keep moving when transitioning seems impossible or worse, terribly frightening.

This week, one of those incidents occurred. I was in Facebook and someone trolling for us TGirls asked to be my friend. I checked and because he was friends with others in my community, I said yes. He then asked me to get onto skype to talk with him. That is not something that I can do right away. I have to find and plug-in the headset, then turn it on. By the time I found the headset, he was pinging me every 20 seconds demanding I get onto skype immediately. I was so anxious and almost crying when I realized I did not have to take that. So I blocked him and shut down my computer.

The scare made me realize that I had traded one kind of possible bullying for another. But it is my choice and I have the power to deal with it.

Anyway, there are good things too. I have a boyfriend who was able to comfort me from that fear. And the best part of that was knowing I could afford to allow him to be strong for me for a little while.

Love & Light,
Cassie Ellen

I ain't cryin'!

Honest! Okay...maybe just a lil bit. The memory from Tante Drea's past kinda broke my heart a bit. But seein' her with Jaci and Dottie made me smile. Does that count as happy tears? I'm gonna say it does. Thanks so much for sharin' such a wonderful story!

{{{huggles}}}