Today is sweet Gabe's 31st birthday. All three of my children have sweet spirits, but Gabe probably has the softest heart of the three. He was our bicentennial baby and in honor of this special occasion, I will tell you the story of his birth.
Bobby and I both were thrilled when we learned that another child would be coming to our little family. We busied ourselves with preparation of a nursery and attending Lamaze classes. The yellow check gingham wallpaper was put up, since back in the good old days, you didn't know the sex of your child before the birth. That was part of the wonder when giving birth. I seem to remember if Gabe had been a girl, her name was to be Elise. We were all set and ready for the anticipated arrival date of the day before Thanksgiving.
We made no plans for Thanksgiving since I just knew Gabe would be here by then. He decided to take his sweet time. That should have been a forewarning of things to come! I am sure the doctor was off on his date, but no sign of a baby came until almost 3 weeks later. I was so discouraged and having no signs of any baby so we went out to eat. The local Mexican restaurant at the time was El Polino which was in the old Village Shopping Center. I ate up-big time! We walked outside the restaurant and WHOA the first sign of a baby coming appeared. We had prepared for natural childbirth, but since I had stuffed myself with food, that would be the only option.
We went home and waited for regular pains so we could go to the hospital. We watched television and I paced for the next few hours. When it was finally time to call our doctor, he was in Shreveport having his office Christmas party. BAD TIMING ON HIS PART! We finally went to the hospital around 1 in the morning. After an hour of pushing to try and get that big James head out, the nurse finally laid across my chest and stomach to help push him out. It was a long hour and I was not happy with anything that Bobby had to say at the time. Finally a BIG baby boy emerged into the world. We were elated. This was after 5 in the morning, so we had not had any sleep. They brought Gabe to us because he was screaming his head off and no one could comfort him. He was not a happy camper and was very difficult to calm down. The 11th of December, 1976 was a cold winter day, but the glow of our pride was all of the warmth we needed that day.
Gabe has a gentle spirit and warm heart. He is an interesting combination of mine and Bobby's personalities. He can charm the pants off of you, but sometimes I feel like he is like me in that the social interaction can be taxing for him. He is wonderful with his nephews and a staunch defender of not only the nephews, but any other family member or friend. He is a joy to be with and quick to jump to my aide. We won't call him Saint Gabe since he has been known to have his share of trouble. Gabe is just like all of us and has his short comings, but his wonderful spirit far outweigh any negatives.
We pray for Gabe and our other children everyday, but today especially I give thanks for the gift of Gabe and all of the joy he has brought to us.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABIE!
4 comments:
Oh, Elise. You are special! I'm glad you were born, Elise.
That is soooooo sweet. I agree that Elise, oh, I mean Gabe, is a very sweet boy. I have so many memories of him and Andrew growing up. Both are sweet and precious, but did manage to get into a little trouble every now and then!! Adrian
Thanks for the reminder to wish him a Happy B-day! And yes, Camille made me feel incredibly old with her "1993" comment...geesh!
Actually that should be "1994"...see how forgetful I am in my old age?
Post a Comment