First Memories

I'm going to try to write daily about at least one thing my kids have done or said or whatevs, just because they are perfect & need to have their lives documented through the eyes of an impartial observer. Cause, ya know, fathers are impartial to their own kids.

Memories of Lil' Dude (LD) (my son) and Lil' Gal (LG) will be marked as such. I'll try to add a memory as well as a current event daily.

LD Memories:

I remember the day you were born... well, the days, actually. it was three days an nights of eternity all kind of mashing together. Your mother went into labor early one morning, and we drove to the hospital in Atlanta. I'd had all the hospital gear ready - it wasn't like the movies, no one was panicked, it was just a fact of life. When we arrived at the North Atlanta hospital, we went into the (nice) birthing suite and began what we thought would be a short wait. Well, maybe not that short, but not that long either. I'd seen a few long labors, and a few false labors, but your mother's labor was longer and less false that any other I'd seen.

She went into active labor fairly soon after arrival, then stayed that way for three days - something that doesn't happen often. When the time came for you to pop out, she and I were both exhausted. Obviously she'd done the work, and she was just a tiny bit more tired than I was, but still.

On that cold February morning, you came into the room and warmed my heart. I was yours, you were mine, and you were friggin' gorgeous. I was expecting a squishy lizard alien baby, but what I got was you, a perfect baby that fit well into my arms. Sure, there was some slime, some gunk, but I only;y say that 'cause I know all births have it. I don't remember any of that, I only remember how beautiful your mother looked right at that moment, and how incredible you were.

LG Memories:

Oh Holy Hell... walking into that room I knew you were mine - were ours. You brought our family even closer together, a glue that bonded us all tightly around you. We swarmed you, nearly smothering you, I think. LD, your mother & I all wanted to hold you and never let you go. You were the perfect addition to our family, and we could never imagine being without you from that moment on.

It was a sweltering day in Maryland, and we had been waiting for you for what felt like years in the waiting room. When the woman from the adoption agency brought your foster mother in with you ( a vegetarian Jewish mom with the energy of cyclone and a heart of gold), our souls melted. You were magnificent and sweet. you were a tiny thing, quiet and reserved, giving us no hint about the volumes your lungs would one day manage.

We passed you back and forth, but I never wanted to let you go - you were my daughter, and from that second forward, you were a part of me.