Kermit the Frog "Rainbow Connection" (1979)
The Rainbow Connection
In a relationship, everything changes when a kid comes along. My first wife and I had been married hardly a year before our son was born. We'd met while traveling with the Ken Griffin Magic Show and were married within two months. A pregnancy meant that we were going to have to reevaluate our life together--at least for a while.
To her credit, my wife was a real trouper in dealing with the road life and being pregnant when she was only nineteen. She continued working in the show and living the nomad show business existence for several months. Then as the delivery time approached we decided that she would go back to her home town of Richmond, Virginia while I finished out the tour with the show after which I would join her.
My wife went on ahead and secured an apartment in a vast complex across from the Regency Square Shopping Mall northwest of downtown Richmond in Henrico County. It was a newer up and coming area not far from the hospital where our baby would be born.
By the time I arrived, she had neatly set up housekeeping and seemed very content with her new domestic life. The baby's arrival was about a month and a half away. I was apprehensive about our new life, but becoming excited about the arrival of our child.
I began working at a marketing research company where my wife had found a job. Doing telephone surveys was not overly dissimilar to the telephone promotion work that we had to sometimes do while working the show except it was easier since we weren't selling anything. The working environment was comfortable and I fit in well with the other employees and the executive staff. The work was mostly in the afternoons and evenings which meant I didn't have to wake up early. The hours were what I had been accustomed to.
It was mid July when my wife began to feel the baby coming. It was hot. Miserably so. While I was at work on that day, my wife had the moral support of one of her friends. My wife had heard that walking would speed up the baby's arrival so she walked around the air-conditioned apartment most of the day. Still no baby.
When I got home from work she was still walking and waiting. Her friend left since I was now there. I changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I rarely wore shorts, but even at 9 PM it was sweltering and extremely humid. If I was feeling so uncomfortable I could only imagine how my wife must have felt.
We rested and dozed until around 1 AM when my wife woke me to let me know it was time. We grabbed the overnight bag that was waiting and headed to the car. The air was so laden with moisture you couldn't tell where it ended and your sweat began. I drove with my window down trying to catch as much breeze as I could.
In the darkened sky heavy clouds were gathering. Lightning flashed on the horizon. I wasn't sure if the electrical discharge was from the heat or an approaching storm. Maybe it was an omen announcing the birth of our child. Whether or not there was rain coming, I began thinking of a lifetime filled with rainbows. A love for my young wife welled within me like a warm flood. We would soon be parents.
Our son arrived quickly and without complication. Since I had participated in birthing classes I was permitted in the delivery room. The miracle of the boy baby's arrival was like nothing I had ever witnessed before. I was bursting with pride in this beautiful baby boy. I wanted to show him to everyone. No one had ever seen such a beautiful baby as this.
After the baby's arrival and things were more subdued, my wife slept. I went to the waiting area to use the pay phone. I had to call someone to tell them even though it was four in the morning. I called my friend Marvin. He answered groggily and congratulated me after I told him the news. As I paced around the waiting room my mind raced. Did I need to get a box of cigars? Who did I know who smoked cigars anyway?
The hospital staff recommended that I go home and rest while my wife was recuperating. If it was determined that all was well I would be able to take my family home that afternoon. Like being in the happiest dream I could ever imagine, I went to my car and drove home.
Even at this hour it was still hot and humid. There were still clouds, but there was no rain. From all appearances today would be another bright sunny day. No rain meant no rainbows in the sky, but metaphorical rainbows permeated every part of me.
I was now a father.
What experience in your life did you have a big build up for? Did things pan out as you dreamed? How do you think having children changes a person?
