Saturday, November 27, 2010

Christa Jean ~ My Birthday Girl!

It was a lovely fall day.
A Tuesday.
A day your dad was making a trip up to Interlachen,
taking a truckload of possessions in preparation of our upcoming move.

“Be quick”, I said, “you never know if THIS might be THE DAY.”

And a few hours later I felt those first familiar twinges. And I knew your birth was just hours away!

Midwife (and your current bank member!), Elsie Wilson, was taking care of us for the prenatal, and her beautiful birthing center in downtown St. Pete was going to be the site of your arrival. Set in a vintage home on a brick-paved street with a wide porch, wood-trim galore, and cozy bedrooms!

But the problem at the moment was how to get there! And Yuriko was called into action! Yes, Yuriko, who was newly licensed, and already known as a white-knuckled driver. LOL

In the meantime, someone was assigned to get in touch with your dad, who was still in Interlachen. No answer was happening at the Johnson’s, our soon-to-be neighbors. And as a matter of fact, when the
one-room police department was called to ask for an officer to go to the property, the caller was greeted with an answering machine. An ANSWERING MACHINE….at a police department...during the day!!! But somehow or other, your dad was reached and he jumped in the truck to head back south (breaking speed limits, I’m sure!)

But back to Yuriko. She WAS white-knuckled. And I’ll never forget the look on her face when at one point I asked her to make a left-hand turn on a red light as there were no cars around. “REALLY!!!”, her face seemed to say, “We DON’T have time to wait for a red light!!!” And each time she realized I was breathing through a contraction, she would say in a somewhat whispered, high-pitched voice, “OH!  YOU’RE HAVING ANOTHER ONE!!!”  But to her credit, she got us there, safe and sound!!!

I remember Vickie Bueller showing up, and your sisters now joined us at the birthing center. But your dad was still miles away. We estimated him to arrive at 8:10 pm, and I was determined to “hold out” until that time. But you had other plans. One minute I was saying “I’m just going to breathe through these contractions”, the next minute I said “Forget about that plan!!”  And with Elsie and friend, Dr. Jim Holehouse, taking good care of us, you graced us with your presence just before eight o'clock! The miraculous story though is this…. As your dad was crossing the Howard Franklin Bridge over Tampa Bay, his heart gave a skip, jumped a beat! Yes, this was 10 minutes before his arrival, the time of your birth!

Shortly after your appearance, the party started, you party girl! Your sisters came in and joined me in the bed.


And pizza was ordered as we were all starving. (When the pizza delivery boy arrived and found out there was a newborn upstairs, he was so genuinely excited that he was allowed up for a peek ~ You made his day!)

You were surrounded in the room by people who loved you then,
and who love you now!

Your life is such a gift to us all. 
You bring laughter daily to those around you,
and you have provided us with so much joy from that very day to now ~ you are our walking sitcom! 
I love your love of traditions... you follow in my footsteps :)   
 And I must say,
 you have grown into a such a wonderful young woman!  
I count it a privilege that your are my daughter and also my friend. 

So...
Happy Birthday, my dear youngest girl!
I love you!

                                                                  ~Mom

2 comments:

Leslie said...

I love your birth-day stories... they are precious gifts to each of your children.

Mallard Nest said...

They are wonderful gifts to us and I cry happy tears when I read them! You are an amazing woman and have brought us up well! PS. Happy Birthday to my youngest sister! Love you lots!