We were living in a small town in California called Atwater. I was trying to be a rock star. After studying and playing in Hollywood for a year, I came to Atwater to be with your mother. So why would I leave Hollywood and move to Atwater if I was trying to be a rock star?  Well, I have asked myself that many times through the years.  The only logical answer I can come up with is that I really didn’t want to be a rock star that bad.

You were actually born in Merced which was a short ways from Atwater.  It was at night and I don’t remember what time we arrived at the hospital. I do remember we were there early and your mother was in labor with you for many hours.  It seemed to be a hard labor.  You are my first child.  I had never seen a baby born and felt as though I was in a trance.

When your head came out the umbilical cord was around your neck twice and you were blue. All of a sudden all hell broke loose in the room and it was urgent that you came out now.  After you finally emerged, a nurse took you over to a table and put a tube down your throat sucking out any liquid that was in your lungs.

It must have taken a few minutes for you to take your first breath as your mother, in a delirious voice started asking why her baby wasn’t breathing. After what seemed like an eternity, you started to cry.  I think everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief with your first breath.  I finally got to hold you and welcome you to the world, and the doctor let me cut a small piece of the umbilical cord that had already been cut.

You spent the first week of your little life in the hospital and finally came home with no further complications. You were my first child and I never knew I could experience the feelings I had that day.  It truly was one of the best days of my life.