the story of my birth

[Canuckster]

Well today being my birthday, my father posted a story on facebook about the night of my birth.

Just thought id share, as I had never heard this before.

Enjoy

Today is the birthday of my third born child. Neil . On days like this i always reflect on the events that took place so many years ago. When Neil's mother went into labor I took her to the henderson hospital , an old beat up place with a maternity wing overlooking the city from the mountain brow. She was immediately whisked away and I was left in the waiting room in anticipation of the long awaited event. After a few hours I was informed by a crusty old nurse that my wife was sleeping and did not seem to be in labor. She said I may as well go home or someplace else and she would call with any news. I distinctly recall that she had an icy air of authority, she exuded a no nonsense attitude and kind of challenged me to defy her status as the person in charge. I told her that I may as well go to work as I worked the night shift and gave her a number to call before leaving and taking the bus down to the bayfront where the steel mill awaited my arrival for eight hours of unrelenting labor, slugging steel coils around the shipping department. Around three am the foreman approached and gruffly announced" hey ! Moore. It's a boy. I suppose you'll be leaving now" Without a word I dashed into the locker room , changed clothes , washed up and left to the shouts and jeers of my working buddies. " Whats your hurry, are you sure it's yours: and : try to keep it in your pants: I hurried out into the chilly night and quickly started walking up Sherman Avenue. There were no buses at that time of night , so I set my course with determination to walk and run to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. The shortest route was to walk from the bayfront to the foot of the mountain ,then go straight up hill to the top which would put me within a couple of blocks of the hospital. I had no problem jog trotting the couple of miles to the foot of the mountain, but scaling the steep sides in the dark was another matter. The hill was covered in thick brush which was no picnic in the dark. Underfoot the hill was all loose shale that crumbled and slid away as I struggled higher and higher, several times I heard loud rumblings and crashes as rocks I had dislodged tumbled away and crashed through the bushes in the darkness. I finally made it to the top scratched and bruised but intact, then trotted up the access road for the last few hundred yards to arrive breathless at the entrance to the waiting room. The nurse on duty looked at me with the disdainful look of contempt reserved for those who were the cause of all the troubles and misery that her patients were undergoing and announced " You may as well go home Visiting hours do not start till Nine o'clock." Your wife and child are doing fine and there's no need for you to be disturbing them at this time of night" I protested to no avail, She was adamant " No VISITORS AFTER HOURS; Her contempt was so obvious, Her authority was total. I was defeated. I went out to the waiting room and slumped into a chair , waited for what seemed an eternity until the appointed time where I was permitted to view my new baby through an array of windows. for the first time. I stood looking for a moment and saw him open his eyes momentarily and seemed to look right at me. The only thing I could think of was that it was all worth it. A view I hold to this day .... Happy Birthday Neil .

[Som-Pong]

Moving.

[Masato]

He's a good writer!

[Masato]

Oh, and happy birthday!!!

You gonna post that punk song somewhere, or what? :D

[Canuckster]

lol, getting soft in my old age.

[Canuckster]

my father is kind of an enigma, to meet him you wouldn't think he is who he is at all.

kind of like me I guess, he has a amazing creative streak that I don't think ever realized its potential, and he knows it. hes also been tested for IQ and is in the top 1% of intelligent humans, you would definitely like him masato, maybe when he gets his ass back up here I will try and get you two together for a pow wow.

[greenseed]

happy bday

cool story. why didn't your dad have a car?

[Canuckster]

he was young and poor

[Som-Pong]

Kind of like you eh? How are you creative Canuckster?

[Luigi]

Happy Bday Canuckster