A Defense of Daddyisms
by Mrs. D. O. Hopkins
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Part 2
As the chauffeur pulled onto Grant Avenue,
Mrs. Griggs turned to Price with a smile. “I enjoyed your
singing today, dear,” she told the girl. “Tonight I’m
having a little gathering. Could you join us and sing later in
the evening?”
Price blinked in astonishment. Was she hearing correctly? An
evening with the Mrs. Griggs?
“I know it is late to be asking you,” Mrs. Griggs continued,
“but after I heard you sing I knew you would be just right for
this evening’s guests. It will be quite informal; what
you’re wearing now is fine. I want you to sing from your
heart, just as you did today. I have a feeling that your
audience tonight will be as appreciative as the children
were.” She clasped Price’s hand. “Will you come?”
“I’d love to come,” Price assured her. “It’s a dream
come true. Only—I don’t deserve to have this happen to
me.”
Mrs. Griggs smiled. “If things happened according to deserts,
most of us would be in sackcloth and ashes. I’ll send my
chauffeur for you a little before six.”
Air force officers
Price’s heart pounded with excitement as she was welcomed at
the door by Mrs. Griggs herself. Her hostess nodded with
approval. “You look lovely, my dear.” She lowered her voice.
“You are a demonstration that true beauty has no need for the
unnatural enhancements of makeup and jewelry.” She took
Price’s arm. “I want you to meet the guests,” she told
her. “I think you’ll find them to your taste.”
Feeling as if in a dream, Price accompanied Mrs. Griggs down the
hall, toward the sounds of voices and subdued laughter. On the
hall tree, she noticed three khaki-colored hats with distinctive
bands. Air Force officers are here, she realized with a start. A
few seconds later, she entered a long parlor with a cheery log
fire glowing in the fireplace. Three young men in uniform stood
near the fire, while several sweet-faced young women sat
chatting on nearby couches. Mr. and Mrs. Boone, along with Mr.
Griggs, completed the party. How nice to be included in such a
group, Price thought. But how perilously close I came to missing
it!
Enjoyable meal
Price thoroughly enjoyed dinner that evening. The food was
simple but delicious, served with hospitality and graciousness.
The topic of conversation soon centered on the young aviators
themselves—their experiences in learning to operate the
different aircraft, as well as the difficulties of adjusting to
military life.
“Many of us—more than you might think—come from Christian
homes,” one of the airmen, Eric Mosier, revealed.
“It’s a good thing we do,” Captain Doug Brownell
compressed his lips. “Without a faith to hold onto, it would
be awfully hard to make it through. It’s not just the danger
of a spilled plane,” he explained. “It takes about all the
grace a man can get to keep straight, with flirty girls meeting
us at every turn.” He grimaced. “You should see the ones
that hang around the base.”
“I know it’s hard,” his hostess agreed. “That’s the
very reason I invited you here tonight. I want to restore your
confidence in womanhood.” She smiled at Price and the other
girls.
“I don’t think those girls you speak of mean to do harm.”
Mrs. Boone volunteered a word of compassion.
“When I was a boy, I took my mother’s bud vase from the
cabinet.” Doug’s face was sober. “I dropped it on the tile
floor, and it shattered into hundreds of pieces. The
consequences were no less disastrous because I didn’t mean to
break it.”
Price’s thoughts whirled as they returned to the parlor.
Somehow she couldn’t get Jasmine and Kate—and their
almost-accepted invitation—out of her mind.
Heart-searching song
By the time Mrs. Griggs called on Price to sing, she was ready,
fired by a new spirit. Sitting at the piano, she played and sang
several well-known songs. Then, following a little intermission,
the girl returned to the piano. After a soft introduction, she
began to sing:
“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway;
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today. . . .”
The airmen, with bent heads, gazed into the red embers of the
fire as the clear voice searched their hearts.
“I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause,
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.
He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom,
He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.”
For several moments after Price finished, all was silent.
Finally Doug spoke, his voice gruff. “Thank you for that,
Price.”
Later, as Price waited for the chauffeur, Eric took a seat on
the bench beside her.
“Brownell’s all broken up over saying what he did about
girls. He knows you are different. But he was feeling bitter,
and I’ll tell you why. His younger brother is easily led, and
this afternoon he and some other fellows fell in with a group of
girls who came over to the Base in a Mustang convertible. They
hung around and acted so inappropriately that the boys were
reprimanded and the girls were ordered to leave the Base.”
“Oh!” Price breathed. “I’m so glad!”
“Glad?”
“Not about what happened. I’m just glad I wasn’t there.”
“You wouldn’t have been there.” Eric shook his head.
“You’re different.”
“If I am, the credit’s wholly due to my precious ‘Daddyisms.’”
Goodbye gift
When orders came for Captain Mosier’s transfer, he left the
base with a copy of Price’s “Daddyisms”—changed and
adapted for a young man, of course. The picture in the corner
was not the one Eric had asked for. Instead, Price attached a
small oval picture of Christ. Underneath she simply wrote these
words: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus.”
(Concluded.)
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