I'd Rather Have You Instead
© 2001 Elizabeth Marquez
(V)
When I was a little girl
I used to play with her ring
It was big and purple
The gold was shimmering
She told me it was an amethyst
She had gotten it long ago
And someday the ring would be mine
But when she didn’t know
(C)
With love in my eyes
I looked at her and said
I want you to keep your ring, Grandma
I’d rather have you instead
(V)
When I was a teenage girl
She told me about her ring
She got it years ago
When he proposed on the swing
Said grandpa was very good to her
But was not a wealthy man
All he had was her and this ring
When their marriage began
(V)
When I became an adult
Would visit her now and then
She’d tell me the same stories
And ask me how I’d been
Said she wouldn’t be here much longer
It’s almost her time to go
She looked at her amethyst ring
Said this is yours, you know
(C)
With love in my eyes
I looked at her and said
I want you to keep your ring, Grandma
I’d rather have you instead
