(Chapter 15: The birth of my son)
I was working the 2nd shift at Reliable, along with my brother-in-law Huey. Debbie had no real problems with the pregnancy and even though I knew my first child could be born at any time (she was due), I never really expected it to happen while I was at work.
For those who don’t know, foundry work is very dirty. Besides all of the foul odors and toxic fumes, there is black sand everywhere from the molds. Add in some serious heat and the sweat which results from that, and you have a vivid picture of what kind of condition I was in.
But babies know of no such things and will come when they damn well please. Such was the case on October 6, 1972, when I got the call that Debbie was headed to the hospital. I told Huey what was going on and explained to my foreman as well. In no time at all I was headed to Good Sam in Cincinnati to be there for the birth.
I can’t remember if Huey came then or later, but I know Judy was already there when I got there. I believe she may have been the one to take Debbie, but it’s been too many years and I just don’t remember. I remember being very uncomfortable in the pristine clean hospital being as dirty as I was, but there was no time to get cleaned up before going.
I was not a novice at waiting for the birth of a child, having been there for the births of my nieces long before it was my turn to play the role of the expectant father. I don’t believe fathers were allowed in the delivery room at this time, and I don’t know that I would have went even if I could have. I waited in the heirport along with other soon to be dads.
I don’t have a memory for details such as the exact time of birth, but it was that evening and I do remember my sister kissing my new son on his bloody forehead before he had been cleaned up when they brought him out to show us. I didn’t want to get too close, who knows what kind of germs I had on me from work.
I do remember beaming with pride at this time, to think I had a part in creating this person, perfect in every detail and screaming his head off if I remember correctly. The birth of your child is an awesome event, one with no equal that I can think of. Not to mention an awesome responsibility as well. That will surely bring you down to earth in a hurry!
As every expectant couple does, we had discussed possible names, both boy and girl, but I don’t think we had totally decided on one just yet. I had wanted to use part of my dad’s name so I chose his middle name, Powers, but we needed something which went with that for his first name. Although I never really cared for the name Christopher, I did like Christian a lot. And so it was to be, Christian Powers Burton.
People can tell you, you can read books about it, but nothing really prepares you for raising children. Especially the babies, the things they do can be funny, unexpected, loved, hated and bewildering all at the same time! But you don’t really have much of a choice, you can’t send them back, no matter how hard you try, You are stuck with them now so might as well make the best of it.
I remember deciding who got up with the baby was always so much fun. I have to admit though, I usually won that argument, so I was lucky in that respect. Changing diapers was another fun chore, especially when more than liquid was involved. But somehow we made it through the rough stages and finally got to a point where Chris would sleep through the night, most of the time.
Debbie had turned 18 in September, prior to the birth and I was 20. We thought we were adults, but were still just children ourselves in so many ways. Of course having children is one of the quickest ways to become an adult. You learn pretty fast that it’s no longer about what you want, but what the baby needs instead.
Most of the time this is a positive experience, but of course if there were no problems life would be too easy! No, there are things which happen that are beyond your control, usually nothing that could have been done about it, just shit happens!
To say our lives were any different than other young parents probably isn’t true. I expect our experiences were pretty normal and much the same as all new parents go through. We had good times, bad times and no time for ourselves. Now everything was about what the baby needed and I think this plays a huge part in some couples marriage problems.
I’m not trying to sound selfish here, but it’s just that babies should be put off until such time as people are ready for them, if that time ever really exists. Better planning could have saved more than a few marriages in my opinion. But young people being inexperienced and thinking they know best is what leads to this problem in the first place, so no sense crying over spilt milk.
It’s back to the vehicles in the next chapter, With our new family we needed better transportation. Something which would announce the arrival of the Burton family in style. Join me next time for more of the story.
For those who would like to follow the count, I will keep a running tally of my vehicle list here.
The personal blog of mosslack 