Shhhh, Daddy's .....

We saw Mother and Daddy reading the Bible often.  One of my favorite photos is this one.  I am sitting in Daddy's lap, giggling, while he is intently reading his Bible.  

We saw Daddy praying too.  Daddy always gave thanks to God for our food, every meal we ate.  To eat without praying would have been as odd as seeing Daddy fly like a bird.  Other than before each meal, the only time we heard or saw Daddy or Mother praying was in church meeting.  In meeting, everyone would take turns praying.  Praying and reading the Bible was a normal part of our life.  

The reason we didn't see them praying at other times is that they prayed behind this closed door at night, kneeling beside their bed before they went to sleep.

In this photo, Daddy is holding me, a newborn baby.  Behind him is his desk and, more important, Mother and Daddy's bedroom door.  

Do you see that door?  At night it was the most important, the most comforting, the best door in the entire house.  You'd not guess from looking at it.  It looked like all the other doors.  

Behind that one specific plain door was the solution to so many problems! Leg aches hit at night were a common pain for me.  I'd go knock on the door and Mother would come out, take me back to my bed, and rub my legs until I fell back to sleep.  Nightmares and bad dreams sent me to their door.  Again, Mother would come out, take me back to my room, tuck me in, and I'd contentedly go back to sleep.  I would feel sick, be throwing up, have a fever, and I'd head for that door, sometimes crying and always knocking.

Mother always came to the door.  We never expected Daddy to come to the door.  It was natural to us to see Mother in her housecoat open the door and slip out.  Daddy took care of other problems at night, especially those that meant going out into the cold. Mother took care of us young'uns at night.  

If we went and knocked on their door shortly after they went in their room and closed the door, Mother would come to the door with a "Shhhh, Daddy's praying" and close the door again, leaving us waiting.  We knew she'd be back.  Later we realized that she was grabbing her housecoat before coming out.  If Daddy wasn't praying, she'd grab her housecoat first.  To her, stopping the knocking immediately was extremely important if Daddy was praying.

Then off we'd go to my room, she would take care of my needs, then off she'd go back to her room. For her to say "Daddy's praying" was as normal as if she'd said, "Daddy's sleeping".

After we had children of our own I realized the obvious that never occurred to me before.  I interrupted HER prayers dozens of times per year.  She never mentioned that fact.  She always patiently took care of me before going back to her room to finish her prayers before going to sleep.

It is fun to discover the things that others did for me, like Mother and Daddy, that I didn't realize until much later.  If they ever thought about it, they knew I'd realize it one day.  It probably made them smile.