THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS

Another year, another girl. 02/29/2016

THANK HEAVEN, FOR LITTLE GIRLS

Before you could say peek-a-boo, our next child, Ellen Bridget arrived on July 13, 1959 at Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City, a healthy and precious infant. Angie had given birth to three girls in the space of thirty one months, the last two eight days shy of one year apart.

Shortly after her birth, we brought Ellen to our pediatrician, Dr. Roth, for a routine office visit. While he examined her, Laura turned to Angie and spoke a complete sentence, “Give the baby her pacifier.” Dr. Roth whirled around and asked, “Who said that?”  He could not believe that Laura could speak that well at such an early age. Neither could we.

Ellen was a fantastic addition to our family. People would stop us when we were out shopping, to tell us what beautiful children we had. Angie dressed our three girls in style. Our 8-mm Kodak home movie films provide visual proof of just how adorable they looked.  

In a few months time all three girls shared the same bedroom. Jamie and Laura each slept in their own twin bed, while Ellen resided in her crib, usually the last one wishing to sleep, anxious to go forward with her life.

Girls are great. However, we began thinking it might be nice if we could add a boy to our family. With that possibility in mind, we began looking to buy a house, a prospect that filled me with trepidation, having never lived in anything but apartments all my life. The thought of a 30-year mortgage made me cringe. It seemed like such a financial burden.

Our search took us to Redwood City where we found a beautiful new four-bedroom home for $20,000. We left a $100 deposit as a good faith offer to buy the house. As we drove home, I began to sweat with worry. All night long, my brain reeled with nervous anxiety, preventing me from sleeping. In the morning, I convinced Angie we could not afford to pay the mortgage, and insisted we retrieve our deposit. This change of heart disappointed Angie. She knew we could have paid the mortgage. Her judgment has always been better than mine when it came to financial matters.

Ellen exhibited no interest in this affair. She slept the nights away, probably dreaming of lions, elephants and baggy-pants clowns.

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