Kevin Made Me An Aunt

Kevin Made Me An Aunt
Larchmont, NY
December 29, 1980

She wasn’t due to deliver for another few days so it didn’t occur to me that my sister, Kathy, might not want me to come to visit her at this time. I am off from winter break at college and I have a few days to kill so off I go to New York to hang with Kathy and her husband, Jim, just a few days before the birth of their first child.

It is the week between Christmas and New Years when lots of family come to visit.  Jim’s parents live in the neighborhood, as did most of Jim’s 10 siblings so stopping by for dinner uninvited and unannounced does not seem to be inappropriate to us.  It seems like a friendly, fun idea.  Fortunately for us, several of Jim’s family have the same idea because 17 of us sit down at the table for dinner.

Dinner is going smoothly until Kathy turns to Jim and says “Maybe we should go, I don’t know, what do you think?  They’re coming more frequently and they are more intense.  I don’t know, I think it’s time”. There is a slight panic in her voice.

I tap Jim on the shoulder and Jim turns to me and says, “Kathy didn’t want to tell you because she was afraid you wouldn’t come up.  But she’s been having contractions all day long.  We think it’s just false labor.  It’s too early and the doctor said the first one always takes a little bit more time.  Don’t worry. No big deal.”

He suggests they wait until dessert is served, “We don’t need to rush, ”.  but Mrs. Staudt, his mother, tells him to do what Kathy wants.  She doesn’t quite tell him to shut up but her tone certainly makes that suggestion. So the doctor is called and they take off shortly thereafter.

As he is gathering their coats, Jim assures me, “don’t worry, we won’t be long.  We’ll be back for you.  You stay here.  See you in a little bit.”

An hour passes and no word from them.  Then another hour and Jim finally calls, “Well, I think this may be it.”

Now two more hours pass and one of his brothers calls Jim at the hospital, “No, nothing yet but this is it.  It’s going to be soon.”

Its now midnight and Mrs. Staudt goes up to bed.  She calls down from the top of the stairs. “Someone make sure Bridget had a bed.  I think she will be spending the night.”  Her bedroom door closes.

The brother calls again and Jim has nothing new to report.

It’s 1AM, a work night for some of the dinner guest so most people have gone to bed by this time.  But I can’t even think about sleep.  I want to be awake when the news comes in.  Tonight I am becoming an aunt and I want to know if it is a boy or a girl.

I go in to the kitchen to see who is still up and find that everyone is gone. But these two little girls are still up and helping themselves to treats in the kitchen.  Everyone is in bed and I haven’t secured my bed yet.  So the moment is a bit awkward.  The little girls entertain me for a bit with some puppet shows but then even they wander off to bed.  I am sitting alone in the living room with no one to keep me company or nowhere to go.  So I call the hospital and check in with Jim.  He is a bit more exhausted than the last phone call and a bit more preoccupied and a bit less interested in my excitement.  I decide not to call anymore tonight.  I will just wait for the announcement.  I find a couch and try to get some sleep but that was to no avail.

The phone rings around 5AM and Mrs. Staudt picks up.  “It’s a boy”, she shouts and an immediate joy bombards the house.  Bedroom doors open, people start making their way to the kitchen.  A pot of coffee is put on the burner and we all pick up with our conversations from 5 hours ago.

I want to call my parents in Philadelphia right away.  I make a few attempts but the phone line is busy, busy, busy.  It can only be that the phone is off the hook and I am frustrated, as this news has to be shared right now.  I am bursting with joy and I want to share this moment with my family.

I wait until the reasonable hour of 6AM and call my parents’ next-door neighbors.  I know they would be getting up for work at this time so I don’t think they would mind being part of the festivities.

“Hello Mrs. Dougherty, would I be asking too much of you if you could just run over to my parents’ house and tell them to put the damn phone back on the hook.  I have important news to tell them.”

She already knows what my news will be because she asks, ”boy or girl?”

“All right “, I tell her, “I will tell you but you can’t tell my mother.  I want to tell her.”  She promises she won’t ruin my surprise.

Five minutes later, the phone rings and it is my mother and her sound of her voice brings me to tears. “What did we have”, she wants to know immediately  “and where are you? We are leaving right now to see the baby.”

Jim comes in some time later and he is exhausted and exhilarated.  He is so happy, “everybody did get.  Kathy looks great and the baby is great.  Everything went well.  They’re resting but let’s go over in a few hours.  Wait till you see Kevin”.  Jim has a different air about him at this moment.

Its now 7 hours since his birth and I am watching Kevin in his little bassinette in the nursery.  He is bundled in a blue blanket; just his precious face is visible to the outside world. His head is a perfect shape.  His ears are perfect.  He is sucking on his index finger and I am overwhelmed with joy to be staring at this beautiful child who is only 7 hours old.  And I think to myself, “ I will do everything I can to be a part of this boy’s life.  I will do everything I can to enrich his life.  I love this little boy.”