I remember peeing in the tub. I think that is one of my first memories. There was Helen, my maid, and I stood up in the tub and peed, feeling great joy in looking at what I could do and very proud, indeed! Until I looked up at Helen and you know what she did, to my astonishment and bewilderment? She emptied out the water in the tub, all of it! I couldn’t believe she would do such a thing! Why on earth would she do that?

Who was Helen? I can’t remember. But I do remember the prayer mother made me say every night: “God bless mother and father, Bill and Mac, Janita and Ken, and Peter and Helen, and all my Friends and Family.” Amen. She took care of me and was the first person I remember except for my mother. My guess is that she lived downstairs in the maids’ room, right next to the kitchen. I don’t remember if she was black or white, but she was special.

One day, at about the time as I peed in the tub, a lamp fell on my arm and the light bulb burnt my skin. As a result, there was a big blister on my right arm, a very big blister. So big, in fact, that it needed to be punctured. Someone had to take a needle and poke it to get the water out, and I remember insisting that Helen, not mother, do it. I don’t know if this hurt my mother’s feelings or not, but I do know that I trusted Helen completely. My guess is that that was the first time I learned about trust, what trust meant, what trust was. To have complete faith in someone, sure that they would do the right thing, like poke a blister.

When I first learned about Faith.