A Blessed Life (17)
My dad had a way of saying a lot without using very many words. I remember some of the things he impressed on me in just that way. One memory stands out clearly in my mind to this day.
It was junior-senior prom; the night when you plan on staying out really late. The prom was on Friday evening in the spring. Saturday morning following would be for sleeping in. That was the plan my cousin and I had arranged. We were going together with our dates and then he and I would spend what was left of the wee hours of the morning at our house in undisturbed rest until noon. So we thought!
Dad told me before leaving to meet my date that he expected me in by 1:00 a.m. Prom was over at midnight, so there was no need to be out any later than 1:00 a.m. He believed that not much good occurred in the early morning hours; that was his view. With my cousin’s encouragement, we agreed that our plan to stay out later was a much better view. So we did.
About 6:30 Saturday morning my dad awakened us and simply said that he needed our help. There was no use in resisting. He never said a word about our coming in late. He took us to a plot of newly ploughed ground and hooked a wooden drag to the tractor. The drag was usually weighted with two railroad ties. That morning it was weighted with two tired young guys. We rode that drag until noon. We were covered in dust and were spitting mud even though we didn’t get any water to drink. Nothing was ever said about being late, but the message was clearly conveyed.
– Terry A. Morrison