Monday, January 8, 1996 12:45 PM
(This is the first of a 2 part posting of the beginning of a life change experience)
I took the last drag on my cigarette and flicked the remnants into the yard across the hood of the car. On the other side of the car (drivers side) stood my youngest daughter whom I had raised from the age of 13 when I had gotten custody of her.
I took the last drag on my cigarette and flicked the remnants into the yard across the hood of the car. On the other side of the car (drivers side) stood my youngest daughter whom I had raised from the age of 13 when I had gotten custody of her.
That day, a few years earlier, had changed my life immeasurably. The change began at the Courthouse in Wauseon Ohio, about 35 miles from where I lived at the time in Toledo. It didn't take us long to take care of business as the Ex wife seemed to be ready to get rid of her. She was delivered there with her life contents that would be coming with us to Toledo in about 6 plastic garbage bags. I was looking forward to the change and the new responsibility, but I was totally unprepared for what followed.
The first year or two though I never felt impossible…were difficult to say the least. She had major adjustments moving from a smaller town to a city environment. I had major adjustments changing from Single Part time dad to father. But after all was said and done, I would not have missed the experience for anything in the world. You see, through our time together, the experiences, and watching her mature, I learned how I truly love the other 3 children also.
Now as I flip the butt of the cigarette into the yard, I look across the car at her and I tell her I am ready to go to my Drs. Office for a checkup. We both proceed to sit down into the car and I have the sudden premonition that I will not be coming home with her that day. I glanced over at her a couple times on that short trip to the office, having flashbacks of her as a much younger child. She always had a smile on her face, and one time she had even made a Smiley Face in her Ice Cream cone with dots at each end of the mouth that reminded me of her dimples.
We got to the office were I was the first to see my Doctor after lunch. We slowly walked back into her office where she looked at me, started me on Oxygen, and said “Dave, I want you to go right into the Hospital.� She called a Life Squad, and with all the activity the adrenalin was coursing through out my body which made breathing only possible with greater effort.
The squad arrived, and as they tried to get me to lie down on the cot, I found it impossible to breathe. I became quite agitated about this and they raised the back to a more vertical position which made it better. As all of this was going on I remember glancing across the narrow corridor into a small office where my daughter was standing.
She had her back to me.
I didn't have to ask her why... I knew.
Next: The Hospital
The first year or two though I never felt impossible…were difficult to say the least. She had major adjustments moving from a smaller town to a city environment. I had major adjustments changing from Single Part time dad to father. But after all was said and done, I would not have missed the experience for anything in the world. You see, through our time together, the experiences, and watching her mature, I learned how I truly love the other 3 children also.
Now as I flip the butt of the cigarette into the yard, I look across the car at her and I tell her I am ready to go to my Drs. Office for a checkup. We both proceed to sit down into the car and I have the sudden premonition that I will not be coming home with her that day. I glanced over at her a couple times on that short trip to the office, having flashbacks of her as a much younger child. She always had a smile on her face, and one time she had even made a Smiley Face in her Ice Cream cone with dots at each end of the mouth that reminded me of her dimples.
We got to the office were I was the first to see my Doctor after lunch. We slowly walked back into her office where she looked at me, started me on Oxygen, and said “Dave, I want you to go right into the Hospital.� She called a Life Squad, and with all the activity the adrenalin was coursing through out my body which made breathing only possible with greater effort.
The squad arrived, and as they tried to get me to lie down on the cot, I found it impossible to breathe. I became quite agitated about this and they raised the back to a more vertical position which made it better. As all of this was going on I remember glancing across the narrow corridor into a small office where my daughter was standing.
She had her back to me.
I didn't have to ask her why... I knew.
Next: The Hospital
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