DAD
Dad
Hair combed straight back, a crooked smile, tall, dark and handsome, too,
My father was a quiet man with eyes of steely blue,
His hands were rough and calloused, sometimes black with gritty sand
From hours in the foundry, that could kill a weaker man.
Hard times, hard work and little pay can make a young man old,
But country music, baseball games and beer renewed his soul.
He played an old flattop guitar. He could strum it by the hour;
I danced around the living room of our little house. I had just returned from an appointment with my doctor, and I was ecstatic. I smiled at my mother-in-law and my young sister-in-law. My fourteen-month-old baby daughter lay sleeping in the crib. The room was cozy and warm, a comfort on that chilly early-April day.
“On October 23rd, we’re going to have another baby!” I announced. The two women, one in her late forties, the other in her teens, looked at me with a touch of dismay.
“Oh,” said my husband’s mother. “They’ll be really close, won’t they?” She sounded uncertain. Nine years separated my husband and his sister, so their mother basically had two “only children.” There had been no competition for their mother’s attention. On the other hand, a gap of only twenty-three months separated my younger brother and me. I couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t part of my life. However, while I was having babies, he was serving a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force.
I loved being pregnant! After a few days of early morning sickness, I felt good. I had carried my daughter high, but this baby literally sat on my lap, even when I was standing. During the last weeks, I often cradled my lower abdomen when I walked, just to relieve the pressure on hip joints. Heartburn reared it’s uncomfortable head, but the goal was in sight! We chose a boy and a girl name, for there was no way of predetermining the sex of unborn babies at that time. My husband had his heart set on a boy, but I didn’t care. To coin that old phrase: I just wanted a healthy baby. (more…)