Joseph Anthony

Today is Joseph’s 23^rd birthday.

Joseph is the second son of my good friends, Harold and Cindy.

He has been special to me since the moment I was told

Cindy was expecting her second son.

But I could have never known in 1991 that he would be such

a part of the story of the day I gave birth to my Anna.

So, today, on his birthday, I thought I’d write down his contribution to that day.

Joseph was 4 years old (almost 5) on the day I had Anna.

I was babysitting Joseph for the day on Tuesday, September 3, 1996

(which shouldn’t have been a problem since Anna wasn’t due yet).

We were having a great morning – just the two of us.

Rob was at Duke Divinity School – his first day for the year back at seminary.

Joseph’s big brother was in school already.

So it was just the two of us.  We watched some of his favorite TV shows.  We made a snack and ate it outside (that was the last food I would eat until after Anna was born).  Even though I was supposed to limit activity, I was told to get some mild exercise daily so we went for a short walk to the post office, passing by the elementary school where I had been teaching 4^th grade up until the Friday before when the doctor had taken me out of work.  I remember telling Joseph that it felt strange to not be teaching that day but I sure was glad that he got to stay with me.  He just smiled and asked if he could go to the playground (to which I had to reply no since school was in session).

It was not very long after we returned home from our walk that I discovered something was wrong.  I had a placental abruption with Anna but I didn’t know yet that an abruption had started.  I just knew something was wrong so I called the doctor.  They didn’t sound very alarmed but told me to come in for a check as soon as I could. 

Since Rob was over an hour away, it was crazy for him to come home and get me when, if I could find someone to take me, we could just meet in the middle at the town where I planned to give birth to my Anna girl.

My friend, Lannette, works (as a nurse) at that hospital.  At the time, she was working 2^nd shift so I called her and asked her if I could ride with her to work.  When Cindy arrived to pick up Joseph, she was going to take me to meet Lannette.

I called Rob to tell him what was going on and that he needed to leave Duke and meet me at the hospital.  It was the one and only time the cell phone worked for us when he was inside those beautiful stone buildings at Duke.

So, with everything in place, Joseph and I started getting ready to go while we were waiting for his mom to get there.  I had started packing a hospital bag but had not finished it so he helped me gather up some needed things and my little Joseph carried the bags outside to the carport.  Cindy was going to get there just in time to take me to Lannette so I wanted to be ready!

Rob and I had always planned to take a photo of me in front of the house right before we left for the hospital – a very last pregnancy photo.

So, after getting all of my stuff ready to go, I took a photo of Joseph 

walking on our driveway’s retaining wall

and then I asked him if he would take some photos of me while we waited for Cindy.  This was way before digital photos so there was no way for me to tell if he was getting me in the photos or not but it was worth a try. 

I’ve always thought that, for a 4 (almost 5) year old, he did a superb job

and I’ve always been grateful for the photos!

And speaking of photos, Joseph, I now cannot think of you and Anna without thinking of this photo your mom sent me not long ago accompanied by the title

“How Not To Hold A Baby’s Head!”

It has given us many laughs!

So many laughs, in fact, that we tried to recreate it at your brother’s wedding. 

Here’s our attempt at the recreation.  Enjoy! 

And here are some more great photos of you at Ben’s wedding

(sorry some of them are blurry).  

The ones of you dancing do not do justice to the fun we were all having watching you dance but I tried!

So, thank you Joseph Anthony, for taking those precious photos of me!

Thank you, Joseph Anthony, for keeping me company that morning!

Thank you, Joseph Anthony, for being such a great sport for all of the 1,000’s of photos I have taken of you over the years!

And thank you, Joseph Anthony, for just being you!

Happy Birthday Joseph Anthony!

I love you!

Always have!  Always will!

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And here is last year’s birthday post with lots of fun photos that are worth looking at again!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Happy Birthday Joseph!

Happy Birthday Joseph Anthony!

It's so hard to believe you are 22...

...when it seems like it was just yesterday that you were born.

From the very beginning, you had us all wrapped around your little fingers!

Hope you have a great day!

I love you, Joseph!  Always have.  Always will.