Monday, January 14, 2013

That's How the Light Gets In


One Sunday, when I was about 11 years old, my father and I were late for church so we stood in the vestibule with the doors to the congregation closed. We knew they were mid-way through the opening prayer, The Lord's Prayer. As we quietly waited to enter, my father - who had a wonderfully wicked sense of humor - reached for the rope that rang the bell in the steeple every Sunday morning and pretended he was going to pull it. Thinking of the response that might ensue, I fell into a fit of stifled laughter. My father just stood there with that little smile on his face, satisfied that he had made me laugh and awfully happy to boot. As the preacher arrived at the "Amen," I composed myself and we opened the doors, entering the church with just the right amount of irreverence. Some days I really miss my dad.











Photo taken on my trip to Maine in the spring of 2010.

28 comments:

  1. Hello Teresa:
    It is wonderful to have such treasured memories of a parent as you describe here. In this kind of way they are always with you and never forgotten.

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    1. Never forgotten, indeed. Thanks. It's so good to hear from you....

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  2. Teresa, How wonderful to have such memories. I don't have those, but work to leave good memories for my sons and my granddaughter. I don't dwell on the past failures of my father...he had parents too. hahaha... Just love Cohen!!!

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    1. "The sons become the fathers," as Dan Fogelberg sang, and sometimes they rise above those things that might break other men. I sure was blessed.

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  3. My dad was a church elder and lay preacher. I miss him, too.

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    1. So that's where the Bible salesman days enter the picture. Until the Rolling Stones beckoned through that screendoor. :)

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  4. "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in"!

    First, I laughed out loud picturing your father pretending to ring the bell and you trying to control your laughter.

    Second, I did no know this Leonard Cohen song and I really like it a lot. Thank you for sharing both this and your post.

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    1. This is one of my favorite Cohen songs. Love the lyrics. Thanks for reading and listening. :)

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  5. A perfect song for a perfect memory! As listened, it came to mind that you are so adept at letting the light in through all the cracks in life, Teresa. You really do possess a most wonderful gift of words. Your dad certainly made you laugh (and me, too) and instinctively found a way to marry reverence with joy. Sounds sacred to me.

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    1. That is one very kind thing to say, Miss Penny. Love your thought about marrying "reverence with joy" resulting in the "sacred." Just lovely. Thank you so much.

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  6. Such a sweet memory. Your Dad sounds like a fun and loving man. I can see why you miss him so.
    I love the Cohen song and video.
    Hope you have a great week ahead!

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    1. He was, almost all the time. :) and i do miss him, but also feel him still present, very much so. Have a great week, Cat!

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  7. Your dad sounded like he was a hoot. It's good to know that there are men who love Life more than Religion.

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    1. He had one fine sense of humor. It makes a house a home. I absolutely love your point about Life and religion.

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  8. I can relate to this, Teresa, and I am inclined to think that my own father, who was spiritual but irreverent in the funniest ways imaginable, left me with more good memories than all of the pious churchgoers combined.

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    1. And that is as it should be. Absolutely. Weren't we the lucky ones?

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  9. A happy memory also lets the light in, in such a warming way. Hadn't heard this Cohen song; I love it. Have a great week, with lots of light.

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    1. And a wonderful week I wish for you, Nancy. Yes, filled with Light.

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  10. You shared such a heart-warming memory of your dad and one of my favorite Cohen quotes--if you posted nothing else all year, this one would be enough. Pure joy!

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  11. My dad has been gone for so long that I don't think of him very much any more. But it was terrible for decades, missing him. Your memory of your dad is so sweet, Teresa. Thank you for sharing it with me. :-)

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  12. t is such small moments when the ‘light gets in' which bring us great happiness at the time and long afterwards, when we recall them.

    Adding LC”s song is perfect.

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    1. The song somehow just seems to fit. I'm glad you thought so, too. Thanks, Friko.

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  13. I recall such moments with both of my parents often and I treasure them above all others.

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  14. That is a wonderful memory. Over the years people have built all sorts of memorials in stone to people who are no longer there, but little pictures engraved in love like this are the finest memorials there can be.

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    1. Wow! New avi. Very nice pic! And thank you for this lovely comment.

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