One Monday in October...

Not just any Monday, but the day my first child was to come into the world. Yes, it was on Monday the 21st. day of 1974 that Jennifer Marie was born. I remember vividly that morning. My sister and Mom were going about their normal routine. They were getting ready to go preaching. I was still in bed when Janet cried out that her water bag had broken. We called my mother down by us and before you knew it, we were on our drive to St. Mary's hospital in the north side of the city. We lived in the southwest side at that time.

Well, there we were at the hospital. Jan was admitted since there was no doubt she would have the baby on that day. My mother and sister waited for a while and then they left. I stay, of course. After a couple of hours the Doctor came and told me that there was a problem. I still recall the sinking sick feeling that came over me. Was my wife, my girl who I loved so very much, in danger. Was she going to die? Was our unborn child in danger? Was I going to lose one or both of them? All these thoughts ran through my head at 100 miles and hour. I did not want to lose either one of them, but I felt so small, not knowing what to do. The Doctor then proceeded to tell me what the issue was. Jan was not dialating properly, hope I spelled that word correctly. Anyway, if things did not improve soon, then Jan would need a "C-section". Boy was I scared! Jan was also, as you could imagine, very frightened. We loved each other and we wanted to be together, and we wanted our baby to be born ok. Well, it seemed like time was standing still while at the same time everything was happening so quickly.

Well, the dreaded moment came. The Doctor came and told me that they could not wait any longer without placing the baby in danger. So, I signed the papers so that they could perform surgery. I tried to keep a calm look for Jan's sake, but we knew each other so well, she knew how I felt.

It seemed like an eternity and all those crazy thoughts ran through my mind over and over. Finally, I was told that my baby was born. She was a girl. I was so happy but still worried since I had no info on Janet's condition yet. I soon heard she was fine. of coursse she would need to go to recovery. I remembered the Nuns rolling my little girl to the nursery. I wanted to hold her so bad, but rules were much different back then. I could not even be in the same room until much later.

We named her Jennifer, after the girl in the movie love story. All my prayers to God had been answered. Not only did I get to keep Jan in my life, but now we had a daughter. She was as beautiful as her mom and they shared the same green color in their eyes. They were the greatest things to happen to me in my youth....