50 Years Ago Today . . .

I was 27 years old, living in Alabama and was really, really expecting a baby. The weather was typical Southern weather which could only be described by a phrase my father used often, it was “hotter than the hinges on the back door to Hades.” Let’s just say that rivulets of sweat had been known to flow the whole month of that hot July in Bama for everyone. Especially me as I was perspiring for two. I had always been an average size and weight for my age. BUT this particular year I had surpassed all the weight charts, and had begun to take on a Dolly Parton-esque quality in the upper regions.

My “bags were packed” and I was “ready to go,” to the hospital, that is, on a moment’s notice. And that particular morning I got notice. I began to have a slight back ache and what felt like a few intermittent pains. Thank goodness I actually had a doctor’s appointment that day--that brought a certain bit of calm to me. At 4 p.m. we checked in at the doctor’s office and after his consultation, my husband and I were directed right on to the hospital.

This was it, the jumping off place, the big event, the delivery--and a whole new life was about to come to us. We had not done anything to find if we were going to have a son or a daughter, but some great guessing from my mother, family and friends, mixed with the witchcraft of Southern women who knew exactly how to determine the sex of your child just by looking at the expectant mother, foretold that a girl baby would arrive.

We settled in at the hospital to start the waiting game. I was clad in a hospital gown, looking like a double for the figure of the woman drawn on the “overweight” chart. But the nurses, oh, the nurses were beautiful. Why DID I draw so many lovely nurses?!! They were all sweet, young angels of mercy with heavenly forms. I actually think a former Miss Alabama attended me at one point, but as the contractions grew stronger these comparisons didn’t bother me anymore.

And everything changed when they placed our baby girl in my arms. I remember it so vividly—she was, of course, THE most beautiful baby ever--wrapped in a Mickey Mouse blanket. She had and still has her dad’s beautiful brown eyes and dark hair. There weren’t many babies born that night and I was able to keep my baby with me for great spans of time as the nurses kept a close watch on both of us.

I didn’t sleep a wink, I just held her and looked at her for hours. Thinking of what her life would be like, what lay before her as far as talents and personality were concerned, etc., etc. I can’t begin to convey what went through my mind.

And now here I am writing of it, and I have even lived long enough to have seen my granddaughter born and still the magic of it is overwhelming. So at 77 I am blessed with two girls. Both, it turns out have been smart like their grandfather, have great artistic talent and are just the kind of family you would pray to have. That hot day in Alabama was the start of the greatest adventure of my life!

And still the beat goes on . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR DAUGHTER!

I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!

(And Special Love to my Granddaughter!)

=================== Baby Quotes===================================

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” —Elizabeth Stone

“All those cliches, those things you hear about having a baby and motherhood—all of them are true. And all of them are the most beautiful things you will ever experience.” —Penelope Cruz

Your first breath took ours away.

I want to live forever to watch you grow, to see what a great woman you will surely become.

Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe

Thursday's child has far to go,

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for its living,

And a child that's born on the Sabbath day

Is blithe and bonny and good and gay.

- Old Folk Song