Bedtime When I was Young! By Lucille Taylor Kinsella

Ethel, Harold, Lucille and Doris, South Byron 1931

Daddy used to ‘throw’ us into bed! When it was time to get our nightclothes on, we’d do so and sometimes Daddy would take us up to bed. These were special times. He’d lift us up, each in turn and throw us up into the air over the bed, as high as he could. Those few seconds on our way down to land on the mattress was the fun time. We’d try to accomplish all sorts of gyrations. My favorite was to be a fireman and ‘climb the ladder’ before I hit the bed. Do you wonder why all the beds were pretty lumpy and saggy?

When Daddy put us to bed, after a few ‘throws’ apiece, we’d all kneel down beside him (Doris, Harold and I) to say our prayers.

‘Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

This I ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.’

Lloyd, Ruth, Esther and Arnon

Daddy also taught me a morning prayer. I was maybe five or six and had crawled into bed with him when I woke up. I suppose it was a Saturday for usually he was an early riser. He told me that his mother had taught this to him.

‘Now I wake and see the light,

God has kept me through the night.

Lord, I pray Thee, Keep and guide me,

Through this day, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.’

 Mom writes at the end of this remembrance:

(November 27^th, 2017—I still say these two prayers every night, plus ‘talks with God’)