A Girl is Born

Today marks the 27th anniversary of the birth of our second daughter. I think it was around 4:00a that Marilyn woke me up and told me she was having contractions. Since we had been through the Lamaz training, this time, I knew what that meant. I also knew I had a job to do. I had to get a watch and a tablet to serve as a log so we could know the severity, duration and frequency of the contractions. A bit before 6:00a we woke Shelley up and prepared her to go stay with friends. By 6:00a we had dropped sleepy Shelley off and were at the military hospital on Columbus AFB. Marilyn was still contracting and I was still timing and logging. Since this activity (giving birth) causes moms to forget how to breathe, I was helping Marilyn remember how to breathe, also. I had a big job to do in all this. It was different from the job I had when Shelley was born. At her birth my job was to go to the Waiting Room and smoke cigarettes. I'll point out hat I did that job with just as much devotion as I was doing this one.

At 8:00a we discovered we had another daughter - the only use of sonar in those days was detecting enemy submarines. She came out really messy but cleaned up very nicely. Marilyn began to breathe on her own, again, and I stopped keeping my log book. Now, Sara lives in another country and teaches people about Jesus. She speaks two languages and loves singing in both of them. She has an infectious smile and is greatly loved and respected by many people. What a blessing! Thank you Lord for that early morning arrival 27 years ago this day!