Monday, March 7
Daphne
Those who go to God most high for safety will be protected by the Almighty! I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.” —Psalm 91:1-2
My mother was born to a nineteen-year-old mother and a father not much older than that. She weighed three and a half pounds when she was born, and she fit into a cigar box, so I have been told.
When she was in the fourth or fifth grade she went from going to 4-month school to 9-month school, so she had to repeat a grade. In high school she played basketball and stayed an extra year to play and to finish up her business classes.
While she was in high school taking Latin classes, she learned how to spell her name correctly. She was named Daphne from a book my grandmother read. Having grown up in Mississippi, her name was always pronounced Daphna, so that is how she spelled her name. She was upset that the teacher told her she was spelling her name incorrectly. When she approached her mother, she was told that Daphne was the correct spelling of her name.
After high school, my mother used her business classes to find a job. She met Harold Dutch and wanted to get married. Her parents thought she was too young, but they were reminded that Mother was older than they were when they married. Mother and Harold lived in Shreveport quite happily until Harold was killed in an automobile accident. He only had a swollen lip, and the other man in the car walked away. Because she was away from her Mississippi home, she had to do everything for the funeral by herself.
She went back to Mississippi and was staying at my grandparents’ home. They were away for the evening and came home to find the house destroyed by a fire. They were all left with the clothes on their backs.
Mother met Harvey Grady and married him. They got married in September before Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Daddy enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He was stationed overseas in Alaska. It was not a state then. Daddy was injured in a fall and re-injured in an airplane bump. He suffered the rest of their 54-year marriage. Their plan was to have three children, with the first being born after three years of marriage. At the point they were about to consider adoption, Mother became pregnant. They had three children eventually, but we are not three years apart as they wanted. We are ten years apart.
My parents were not money rich but were rich in other ways. I can remember my mother being so embarrassed because she had to ask for credit for groceries so we could eat. My dad made only $400 a month, and every other month $125 had to go pay for my paternal grandfather’s nursing home care.
When my mother got into her seventies, she was diagnosed with non-smoker’s lung cancer. She was put into hospice care, and we all took turns being her caregiver. One day she said she wanted to cry. My sister got all ready to have a really good cry. My mother cried about three tears, and she was done. Then my sister had to quickly change her frame of mind. Another time I heard Mother say, “Lord have Mercy!” I asked her, “Lord have Mercy about what?” She said, “Just Lord Have Mercy!”
My mother was resilient, and she knew that the Lord would have mercy on her as he always had in all of the rough paths of her life. She never gave up her belief in a true and loving God even when she knew she was dying.
Loving and Faithful God: Thank you for mothers who are resilient and always believe in your safety and protection no matter how many challenges they face. Help us all to remember that when challenges occur, you are right there crying with us and watching over us. We are so grateful for your love and grace. Amen.
Daphne G. Grady