The Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
- Psalm 121:8
“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
- Luke 14:23
[Verse 1]
Missed the Saturday dance
Heard they crowded the floor
Couldn’t bear it without you
Don’t get around much anymore
[Verse 2]
Thought I’d visit the club
Got as far as the door
They’d have asked me about you
Don’t get around much anymore
[Bridge]
Darling, I guess my mind’s more at ease
But nevertheless, why bring back old memories?
[Verse 3]
Been invited to dance
Might have gone, but what for?
Couldn’t bear it without you
Don’t get around much anymore
[Verse 1]
Missed the Saturday dance
Heard they crowded the floor
Couldn’t bear it without you
Don’t get around much anymore
[Verse 4]
Been invited to clubs
Would have gone, but what for?
Awfully lonesome without you
Don’t get around much anymore
[Bridge]
Yes, darling, I guess my mind’s more at ease
But nevertheless, why bring back old memories?
[Outro]
Been invited to dance
Might have gone, but what for?
Awfully lonesome without you
Don’t get around much anymore
- Bob Russell, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
This song debuted in 1940 as an instrumental by Duke Ellington, entitled “Never No Lament.” Bob Russell added the lyrics in 1942. It was first recorded by the Ink Spots. And Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra recorded it that same year.
I think of the life my wife and I had here for the last thirty years, almost thirty for her, our empty nest years except for the nine months that my son brought his family here to live when he was out of work.
When I listen to this song, I have asked God is it possible to laugh and cry at the same time.
I laugh, because even before my wife passed away, we did not get around much anymore. With kidney dialysis three days each week, and sometimes doctor appointments in between and always church on Sunday, we had little time and little energy to go out. But that is what my wife always wanted.
I tried to make those “events” special. I succeeded sometimes. The last time, she saw the exhaustion in my eyes and said that we could do Erie, Pennsylvania another day. The problem was that the waterfront restaurants that she would love were never open on Monday. Monday was the only day that she felt human. It was the only day when dialysis was not performed and had not been performed the previous day. It was my window for scheduling something fun for her.
We did a local movie instead. She wanted Thai bubble tea. One restaurant was closed, and another was closed for good, being renovated into something else. I felt like a total failure. And as it turned out, I never had another chance to make it right.
As for me, going to the pharmacy, to the doctor, to the grocery store, and to church are my only endeavors outside the house. You could change the song and leave the same excuses, but I never go out. I thought about it, but what for? Awfully different, but somehow the same as before.
Yes, I need a word for laughing and crying at the same time, and she has been gone three and a half years.
And she wanted me to spend those extra hours doing more writing. And that means even less getting out much anymore.
Here is Tony Bennett with Count Basie’s Orchestra on the Ed Sullivan Show singing Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.
The landlady wants me out of the house next summer. My only viable option is to move in with my son for a while. Watch the last two grandchildren grow up, if they don’t kill each other first.
I may need to get out just to maintain my sanity. But what for? It’s awfully different without her. I don’t get around much anymore.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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