Yet Another Milestone

Damn........sometimes you wake up and come to realize where exactly you are. I shall explain.......It was January 13th, 2008. Not just another day.....but another milestone. This was one of those days where you are flagrantly reminded about time. As it was......it has been a long road........but I am happy and am wealthy in so many non-financial respects.......I guess I can say that I have succeeded way beyond anyone's expectations and odds.

On January 13th, 1986 our fourth child was born in Baltimore, Maryland. A few months prior, we were living in Florida..........specifically Leesburg, Florida. What many do not realize was how difficult that particular time was. As it was..........Wifey-Poo was very pregnant but this pregnancy was a bit different. At one point there was a bloody discharge...........what?.....what is going wrong? I didn't understand all of this pregnancy stuff......even though we were already three children strong........."is the baby moving around?". Gosh......I even remember words being said....."stomach is hardening"......."cannot detect a heartbeat". I guess this was the first time I experienced that feeling of impending doom. The second time I felt impending doom was when I suffered a heart attack several years later. I did not understand any of this....something was wrong and the doctor did not seem to be able to give us solid answers.........certainly not the kind of answers we wanted to hear. I remember hearing "there must have been twins and one was rejected".......huh?.......and....."this one too shall pass in its due course".........what the in hell is that? Needless to say, this was extremely traumatic to hear......we were stunned. This cannot be happening......it isn't possible.

It is times like that which really tests your faith in a Supreme Being. This is cruel.

So time passed........all the while we anticipated what we had been told. Imagine what my wife went through........carrying a fairly fully developed infant inside her.....being told that there is no heartbeat.....and that she would have to wait for it to pass...................THIS is not acceptable. No way....no how. Miracles do happen though...........as it was.........everything we were told was seriously flawed................somehow a heartbeat happened.............the baby was alive and well!

It was at that point I decided that the family would move out of Florida and return to Baltimore. My thoughts were.........there are not only more hospitals there.....but far more doctors. We no longer had any trust in the doctor in Florida. Baltimore was home for me.........it is my comfort zone. (even as bad as it sometimes is there) I quit my fairly decent job.........and hustled up alot of interior graphics work to get enough money for us to move. We rented a small U-Haul trailer, hitched it up, loaded it up.....and headed north. So there we were......in Baltimore........and this baby is coming quickly............and thank God that Wifey-Poo and baby were doing fine.....so far so good.

And then on January 13th, 1986, our son BooBoo was born. Whew!

I guess we will never really know for sure if he was supposed to have been a twin........all we do know is how close we came to losing him. In the years that followed, he had a fairly normal childhood............barney rubble feet, using same for brakes on his big wheel.............my buddy ole pal............I have to smile as I look back.

But on this particular day, it is my Buddy Ole Pal's birthday.........BooBoo is 22 years old!

You cannot imagine how delighted I am on this day. Miracles DO happen........and this should be a testimony to that fact.

So here I sit, today..............I am a blessed person. I have raised the family that I always wanted..........my children are all of legal age now............it has been a long, long journey. I know that there will come a time......one day.......that perhaps I run out of time. It pains me deeply to even consider any thought of any possibility of being without my kids. Sure, I know that they grew up and they have alot of life to life.......even raising their own children..........and they are fully capable of surviving in this world. Yet, the inevitable will come one day.

One thing I DO know for sure...........my children should have no doubts in their minds how important they are to me..............aside from Supernurse, they have been my life.

I am proud of each one of my kids...............if I have made any mark on this earth, they are it.

BooBoo, you have turned out to be quite a great guy. Happy Birthday!