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My Dad's Symbols--Or Were They Superstitions?
Some time after their children were born, Dad told Mom that he would die
when he was forty-one and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It
was his destiny. He had been given a "sign," but he never explained what
his "sign" was. He was so sure that he wouldn't be around to help her
raise their family that he worked very hard to try to have their
business in order, so that after he was gone, Mom would be able to
handle it alone. Every facet of their farm business was discussed with
her. When he borrowed money to make a crop, he took Mom with him so she
would know how it was done. He even had her go to the bank by herself to
borrow the money several times. While we were growing up, we were told
that he would die young. Dad really believed that he would. The Bible
speaks of people being given "signs" of things that will happen, and he
truly felt that he had been given one. But age forty-one came and went,
and he was still there.
The years passed; their children grew up, married, and started lives of
their own. Mom and Dad celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary.
When Mom died at eighty-eight, Dad was devastated. He had never dreamed
of a life without his beloved wife; after all, HE was the one who was
destined to die young. He lived on in their house for two years until he
sold it, then he came to live with me.
The subject of his not living past the age of forty-one arose again. I
asked him what kind of a "sign" he felt he had received. Opening his
left hand, he showed me the creases in his palm. "See?" he said. "They
form the number forty-one." I said, "Why, Dad, everyone has those
creases," and showed him my hand. He said, "I wish someone had told me
that years ago. I've thought I was living on borrowed time all these
years." Dad died at age ninety-eight and a half, seven years after Mom.
When we moved back to Texas from Pennsylvania, Dad had plowed the ten
acres he rented from his brother, Dave, and bought some turnip seed. The
ground that year was dry and parched for lack of rain. A small cloud
appeared in the sky. Dad said, "In the Bible it says if you see a cloud,
say, 'Yonder comes a rain and so be it,' that cloud will provide an
abundance of rainwater for your crops." So he did just that. Within an
hour, the small cloud had grown into a big, black one, and the rain
began. Seeing that he was not going to have time to plant the seed in
rows, Dad went into the field to scatter the seed in all directions. It
rained for three days. It looked like every seed came up. Those turnips
and greens were not only a welcome addition to our meals, but also to a
neighboring family, who had several children. Dad said the woman was a
good mother, trying to take care of her children, but the father was a
worthless, lazy man. He didn't make any attempt at working to feed his
family. After the turnips and greens were picking size, Dad took some to
their house. He told the woman that they were welcome to get more
whenever they wanted them. She gathered them every day that winter,
feeding her family turnips and greens three times a day. I guess if you
are hungry enough, anything tastes good. The Bible says you are to feed
the hungry, and watch over widows and orphans in their affliction.
Although they were not a widow, nor orphans, Dad felt they needed help
and did what he could. He did it without ever saying anything to anybody
else. Just saw that there was something he could do to help, and did it.
Once when he was visiting my sister Gwen in Orange, a stranger walked up to
Dad and said that he was hungry, and asked for some money. Dad gave the
man ten dollars. Afterward Gwen asked Dad, "Do you think you should have
done that? He may use the money for something else." Dad replied, "I'd
rather give to ten that didn't need it than to refuse one hungry one
that did."
When our brother Don joined the Boy Scouts, Dad
became one of the leaders for the pack. They went on overnight campouts
and fishing trips. He was again following the Bible's teaching when he
taught them to fish. Mainly, he wanted them to learn to be
self-sufficient.
Dad always put on his right sock and shoe before
putting on the left ones. He said it would bring "bad luck" to do
otherwise. "Why?" I asked. "Because the Bible gives reference to the
left hand being the inferior one, and that Jesus sits on the right hand
of God." This belief is carried out in the actions of people in many
countries. One's right hand is used to eat, and the left hand is used to
cleanse oneself.
Later, when Mom and Dad moved to Ladonia, they
attended the First Baptist Church, where Dad was ordained a deacon, an
honor he held at the churches he attended in Dallas and Gainesville as
long as he lived.
Quite a man, my Dad was. Quiet and cheerful, he
brought out the best in others, and always stood up for his beliefs. He
lived his religion, and tried his best never to fail his God. In looking
back, it is easy to see that my Dad's "superstitions" were more
"faith-based symbols" than the usual superstitions that are handed down
from one generation to another. What he believed in, he believed
fervently. The closing words to his daily prayers were "Forgive us where
we have failed thee." Amen, Daddy, amen.
Lowell McCormack
Gainesville, Texas
Published:
November 14,
2005
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