Like mother, like son

I’ve been in a rather reflective mood lately and today’s no exception.  As some of you already know, today is my oldest son’s 11th birthday and since he’s such a HUGE Harry Potter fan, he’s already asked when he should expect his Hogwarts letter.  Yep . . . he’s a literary goof.  :-)

I would like to say the day he was born was like any other day and for some people, it probably was; just not for me.  I had felt off since the night before and even started “spotting”, but didn’t tell anyone because I still had over two weeks until my due date.  Despite this, I woke early to take my stepdad to work since I needed his minivan to take my mom for testing (she had colorectal cancer, stage four).

After signing mom in at the doctor’s office, I called my labor coach to give her a heads up so she could make arrangements for her own childcare.  By the time Mom was released, I told her we were driving over to the hospital and asked if she would be able to drive herself home.  She told me not to worry, she’d manage and to go have her grandson.  For a self-confessed brat, she was a trooper.  ;-)

By the time I made it up to Labor & Delivery, I was finally convinced it was time and tried to stay calm; it was too early.  After being admitted, settled in bed and hooked up to monitors, I paged my son-to-be’s dad; this was around 10am and about an hour later, he finally called back.  I explained the situation and he said he’d be there when he could.  I paged him a few more times throughout the day to give him updates and to ask when he would be at the hospital; each time was the same response . . . he’d be there when he could.

My son was born 15 days early at 6:02pm on Wednesday, November 10, 1999 and weighing 8 pounds 7.5 ounces . . . his father finally showed up after 8pm that night (he had a meeting that he claimed he couldn’t get out of) and stayed for maybe  30 minutes.  He didn’t call or visit at any time during our stay and my parents were the ones to bring us home two days later.  It was almost a month before I would allow him to see his son.

My son is a great kid with an extremely kind heart, is very intelligent and a phenomenal brother to his siblings, both older and younger.  I can only hope that as he matures, he remembers his sisters’ warning:  treat any female badly and he will have them to answer to . . . if there’s anything left once I’m finished with him.

Happy birthday to my own Harry Potter!  By the way, your Hogwarts letter was probably being delivered by the Weasley’s owl, Errol . . . be patient . . . he’s old and tends to get lost.  :-D