Behaving in Church — Guest Blog

Memories written by my mother, Minnie Eva Burge Laird [1915 – 2006]

I remember when we Burges would go to church and Dad and Mama sat on the second pew and I’d sit on the first row. I would sit on my feet, and most of the time my dress was not pulled down. One lady in the choir would look and motion for me to pull my dress down. Of course, Dad and Mama had seen her and they would talk to me about it when we got home. I’d remember about the dress for the next few weeks. However, the choir ladies would remind me when I would forget.

It was a blessing for the whole family to come to church and all file in together. Our Daddy (who wore a black derby) went in first and Mama came in right afterwards. Then we children filed in. You could tell how happy our parents were. My Daddy was an “Amen” man. I also remember his “Halleluiah” during revivals. My parents had good singing voices and we all loved to sing.

At home my oldest sister played the piano and she had a great voice. My next sister played the violin and the next sister the piano. The sister before me was supposed to learn the piano but she cried and didn’t want to practice. My brother played a horn and he was called on all the time to play taps at someone’s funeral. He may have stammered a lot, but he sure could blow those taps.

When I got older I wanted to sit in the back of the church. My Dad wasn’t too sure about that though and he used to slyly look back at me. I knew I had to behave. Dad was very proud of his “baby girl” and he let everyone know it. He was also very serious about how I behaved.

When I started dating and had a boyfriend come and see me we sat on the porch and talked. One night we didn’t notice the time and Dad called out from his room, “Baby, it’s bed time!” Boy did my face turn red. However, my boyfriend just laughed.