In honor of Mother's Day (guys, it's THIS Sunday), I am posting my father's column from soon after Riley was born, detailing how I became a Mommy. I still can't believe he went to the ATM... Enjoy!
A NEXT GENERATION ARRIVES, MOVING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
Publication Date: June 18, 2004 Page: B-1 Section: Area/State Edition: City
Our oldest daughter, Lindsay, put together a 25th anniversary party for Vicki and me a few weeks ago.
Has it been 25 years? It doesn't seem like it - although, oddly, we have had children for 100 years.
With my in-laws' help, Lindsay put on a terrific surprise party at their home - and it would have surprised me for sure if she had not had to tell me so I could get Vicki there.
But there were definite surprises: Some faces we had not seen in years.
Our friends over time, it seems, had become mostly those with children the age of ours. They had daughters Lindsay's age, sons Ryan's age or daughters Jamie's age. We've run in the same circles.
Run is the word, too.
Life, as you know, goes by at a blur.
Our actual anniversary wasn't for four days, on the following Wednesday, for which we planned a dinner out.
We never got there. Life stepped in again on Tuesday.
New life.
Lindsay called Tuesday from her doctor's office. She was in for her weekly pregnancy checkup. But they were sending her to the hospital.
Would I meet her? And could I get her husband, Micah?
I wasn't able to reach him, but I did get Ryan, who is home from college for the summer. I told him to continue trying Micah.
Vicki, meanwhile, was waiting at the doctor's office, told erroneously that Lindsay was still there.
It's comforting when the doctor's office has no idea what's going on, isn't it?
I stopped briefly at a bank - I had been headed to one when Lindsay called - and called Ryan again from the drive-through line.
By the time I got to the hospital and reached Lindsay's room, both Micah and Vicki were there. They wondered where I had been.
I told them about calling Ryan from the bank ...
Lindsay interrupted.
"You went to the bank?" she said.
Well, yes.
"Let me make sure I understand," she said, smiling. "I call you, saying I was going to the hospital, maybe about to have a baby, and ask you to come right over. And you go to the bank?"
Well, yes, although it hadn't seemed quite that way at the time.
(This would later turn out to fuel a "Seinfeld" dispute between Ryan and me, as to which episode my actions were most reminiscent of.)
Lindsay's situation was more serious than I thought. She had toxemia: dangerously high blood pressure from the pregnancy. The baby was not due for a couple of weeks. But doctors would take her soon.
Very soon.
And so that evening, Lindsay and Micah's daughter was born. Riley Raylynn Zarse was 20 inches, 7 pounds, 4 ounces ... and perfect.
In the days since, Lindsay has recovered. She and Micah are doing fine.
Riley has been a joy to her parents - even if a frequent depriver of their sleep.
And yes, we are grandparents, Vicki and I, even while being parents of another child in high school. Our parents are great-grandparents. Ryan and Jamie are uncle and aunt.
How did all this happen?
When did it?
"Congratulations!" everyone says to Vicki. "But you're much too young to have a granddaughter."
"Congratulations!" they say to me.
Riley, meanwhile, is adorable. Cute as a button. She is a joy to behold - and to hold.
She is living - sorry, but I have to say this - the life of Riley.
And she is a reminder that even when we remember to look, this all goes by at a blur, doesn't it?
Nothing is as fast as the speed of life.
Publication Date: June 18, 2004 Page: B-1 Section: Area/State Edition: City
Our oldest daughter, Lindsay, put together a 25th anniversary party for Vicki and me a few weeks ago.
Has it been 25 years? It doesn't seem like it - although, oddly, we have had children for 100 years.
With my in-laws' help, Lindsay put on a terrific surprise party at their home - and it would have surprised me for sure if she had not had to tell me so I could get Vicki there.
But there were definite surprises: Some faces we had not seen in years.
Our friends over time, it seems, had become mostly those with children the age of ours. They had daughters Lindsay's age, sons Ryan's age or daughters Jamie's age. We've run in the same circles.
Run is the word, too.
Life, as you know, goes by at a blur.
Our actual anniversary wasn't for four days, on the following Wednesday, for which we planned a dinner out.
We never got there. Life stepped in again on Tuesday.
New life.
Lindsay called Tuesday from her doctor's office. She was in for her weekly pregnancy checkup. But they were sending her to the hospital.
Would I meet her? And could I get her husband, Micah?
I wasn't able to reach him, but I did get Ryan, who is home from college for the summer. I told him to continue trying Micah.
Vicki, meanwhile, was waiting at the doctor's office, told erroneously that Lindsay was still there.
It's comforting when the doctor's office has no idea what's going on, isn't it?
I stopped briefly at a bank - I had been headed to one when Lindsay called - and called Ryan again from the drive-through line.
By the time I got to the hospital and reached Lindsay's room, both Micah and Vicki were there. They wondered where I had been.
I told them about calling Ryan from the bank ...
Lindsay interrupted.
"You went to the bank?" she said.
Well, yes.
"Let me make sure I understand," she said, smiling. "I call you, saying I was going to the hospital, maybe about to have a baby, and ask you to come right over. And you go to the bank?"
Well, yes, although it hadn't seemed quite that way at the time.
(This would later turn out to fuel a "Seinfeld" dispute between Ryan and me, as to which episode my actions were most reminiscent of.)
Lindsay's situation was more serious than I thought. She had toxemia: dangerously high blood pressure from the pregnancy. The baby was not due for a couple of weeks. But doctors would take her soon.
Very soon.
And so that evening, Lindsay and Micah's daughter was born. Riley Raylynn Zarse was 20 inches, 7 pounds, 4 ounces ... and perfect.
In the days since, Lindsay has recovered. She and Micah are doing fine.
Riley has been a joy to her parents - even if a frequent depriver of their sleep.
And yes, we are grandparents, Vicki and I, even while being parents of another child in high school. Our parents are great-grandparents. Ryan and Jamie are uncle and aunt.
How did all this happen?
When did it?
"Congratulations!" everyone says to Vicki. "But you're much too young to have a granddaughter."
"Congratulations!" they say to me.
Riley, meanwhile, is adorable. Cute as a button. She is a joy to behold - and to hold.
She is living - sorry, but I have to say this - the life of Riley.
And she is a reminder that even when we remember to look, this all goes by at a blur, doesn't it?
Nothing is as fast as the speed of life.
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