Always and Forever

I don't really have many memories from my childhood. I don't know why, maybe I was just a boring child, but one thing I do remember is the bedtime routine I had up until I was about 6 or 7. I guess I was too old after that or something. Who knows?

Anyway, my daddy used to come in and he would read me a story (usually out of my big, red Disney storybook), tuck me in, and then say my prayer. Generally, it was the Now I Lay Me prayer, but occasionaly the Our Father or Hail Mary. Oddly enough, my cousins also learned the Now I Lay Me one, only a variation. For those of you who don't know the prayer:

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.

Jess and Nate learned "guide me safely through the night and wake me with the morning light" instead of the "if I should die...take" bit.

After my prayer, daddy would give me a last hug and kiss, then my mum would hug me. Then mum would go to the door and just before she shut off the light, she would say "I love you all the way around the world and back, always and forever".

I don't know what made me think of this particular memory, and I don't know why it's one of my favorites. Perhaps it's that it was one of the few times I was truly happy. Maybe moving forward with life makes me look back. I just know that that will be one memory I will always love.