I am 43 today. Phew, I said it...or rather typed it. The test will be if you are reading it. If I've really got it and practice what I preach I gotta hit that old publish button down below and tell the world (well, my readers, at least). Today I am one step further down the path of life. Not sure what that all means and I know I'm supposed to be older and wiser but today I'm just not sure I feel all that wiser. I certainly feel the older bit.
If you are a CP Family Blog fan and a faithful reader, you will know that my father was a jockey. My mother was a wee young girl of 18. My father was 23. And they must have been scared out of their wits. Mom had been in labour for hours and hours and hours and hours. She'd woken Dad up so many times to take her to the hospital he just didn't believe it when the time had really come. she had to go over to a neighbour's trailer (yep, we lived in a trailer park during those racing days!) and beg them to go get my dad out of bed.
Now my parent's are divorced and I soooo get that. I mean these 2 can't agree on which version of my birth really happened and they've been divorced for almost 30 years. I suppose the truth is somewhere down the middle.
I was born early in the morning in Omaha, Nebraska USA and I guess that was a good thing because my dad had to work that day. He was racing at AkSarBen Race Course. As a jockey you ride and get paid. You don't ride and you don't get paid. My father now had a family to support so he needed to ride. He was able to get to the race course just in time for his races. And he won.
When I asked Mom about my birth she says she can't remember. I get that, too! When I was pregnant and drilling my mom for her birth stories she would always say she couldn't remember. I was horrified. How could a woman forget the memories of the birth of her children? That's easy. We have to so that we have more children. If we could remember how much it hurts we would only have one and then we would tell the world how much it hurts and they would stop having children. And the human race would cease to exist. But I wonder how she felt on this morning 43 years ago.
43 years on and I can't imagine what an 18 year old does with a newborn baby. Heck, I was 36 when I had my first baby and wasn't sure what to do with a newborn baby. I know that my mother gave me loads of baths. She took me to the doctor when I was just a few months old with a red rash all over my body. When the doctor asked her if she was giving me any baths, she replied, "Yes, at least 3 times a day." Apparently, the doctor nearly fainted. The cause of my rash was way too much cleanliness.
So at 43, how am I feeling? Hmmmmm, my body ain't what it used to be! But I don't have any rashes. I don't party nearly as hard as I used to. Heck, who am I kidding? I don't party at all anymore! But I got a loving, loyal husband who makes me laugh and puts up with all my extreme eccentrencities. I've got the two most amazing children in the world. No, really! I've got a career that I am proud of.
My sister told me on the occasion of my 40th birthday, that a woman spends her 20s figuring out who she wants to be. Her 30s are spent becoming that woman. Her 40s are spent enjoying the fruits of her labour. That sister of mine is one smart cookie. I'm enjoying it so far. I like my life. I'm happy in myself. I think I'll just kick back and enjoy the ride for a while.
8 comments:
Hi, I am LaDawns Mom, yes I was there at her birth (believe me, I really was. Okay lets start with the day before she was born, I had gone to the racetrack to watch her dad race, He won, sooo of course we had to go out to dinner with the owners of the horse. We decided to go for Italian food, I had lasagna (not a good choose) It seems that I was in labor during dinner and nothing digested (TMI) moving right along. We went directly home after having a wonderful time and during the night I got out of bed and thought I was getting sick with the stomach flu complete with stomach cramps and all the other signs as well. I told her father that I was really sick and that I had been sitting on the toliet for about an hour. He said " You'll be fine come back to bed, I did and things just got worst...I finally tried several more times to wake him up, no sucess, finally walked down to one of the gate crews wives trailer(Marilyn Spriner) much older than me...she took one look at me and said come with me sweetie I will get him out of bed...so she did..Loud and clear and not politely either..Off we went to hospital not before stopping by the barn area to tell one of the trainers that he would would not be able to work out his horses that morning..I had decided by then that things were really starting to heat up...Upon arrival to the hospital (Archbishop Bergen Mercy Hospital)Omaha, Neb.they swooped me into a wheelchair and off to the delivery floor, they also discovered that I had dialted to 5 and that Ladawn was breech..They gave me somekinda of night night shot and that was it...When I woke up she was in the nursey sound asleep and beautiful..Goooogobbbbs of hair (black)still can't figure that one out..fat cheeks, a georgeous mouth to kiss and smelled wonderful...She was mine, my very own little girl, precious to say the least. Sorry about the baths sweetie. You did survive all of the unknown factors of my being 18 yrs. old. I have no idea how we made it....Happy Birthday sweetie Love ya, Mom
Happy birthday! As my husband would say...you're not 43...you're 25 with 18 years of experience. ;-)
Happy Birthday.
I think the 40s are for being so busy that if someone asks you how you did it; you have no idea and mostly enjoyed it. The 50s you begin to think, What do I really want to do? the 60s are for doing it. Someone else will have to fill in the other decades.
Wow -- so interesting -- I didn't know about the Ak Race Track connection. My father-in-law probably knew your father -- he was at Ak-sar-ben for many years eventually becoming a foreman. And of course there's the Gatewood race track history, too.
Hope your birthday was a good one.
Isn't it amazing how your mother writes that she woke up and there you were. We don't do it that way much anymore.
Ah Mom.....Thanks so much for telling this story. I am so glad to have it written down from your perspective. I will always treasure this.
PS What's all this about a shot and don't remember a thing? Why didn't they have those on offer for me?
LaDawn, back in those days, if your baby was breech they just put you out cold incase they had to do a c-section..I was one of the lucky ones at that time because you just came zooming out vaginaly and no stitches either. Can you imagine that one. 7 lbs of sure bliss.. You all will hate this one I was also back into my normal clothes within 10 days..I didn't know any better...at 18 what did I know (I gained 40 lbs. and have no idea where it went it just went) probably all the energy it took to give you a gazillion baths I suppose. HE HE.I also changed your clothes constantly..Was I a neat freak or just an obsessive mother??? Probably just wackkooo Love Mom
You're right.....I do hate that! I've still got the baby weight from both my children. I suppose part of that is that I was nearly 20 years older than you were when you had your first. Proof that teenagers are meant to have children!
Linda - thanks for sharing that wonderful story. What a treasure!
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