Born in a Car

At about 1am on April 10th 1980, my mom woke up in the middle of her sleep and realized she was in labor. At first she thought she'd go to the bathroom because the contractions were too severe, but while in the bathroom things changed quickly. I was on the way and ready to come out!

In a frenzy my dad packed things into the car and because it was so late at night, they decided to take my older sister and brother along too. They didn't want to wake the neighbors at this hour to ask them to look after the kids. My brother was 4, my sister had just turned 6.

Only 3 miles up the road things got hectic. My dad had to pull over on the side of the road underneath a streetlamp, just over a bridge on the highway. They were no where near the hospital. But I was on my way out, and there was no stopping me! A few minutes of pushing, and there I was....

From what I'm told, my brother and sister were pretty freaked out in the back seat and my dad was quite the hero that night. I think my siblings still have unresolved issues from being woken up in the middle of the night, thrown into the back of the car and then witnessing such a graphic and probably gruesome sight for such little eyes :)

My mom held me up under the light of the streetlamp, and at one point my brother offered his jacket to wrap me in. Now, with newborn in arms, they pulled back on to the highway and continued the 20 minute drive to the hospital. When they arrived to the emergency entrance, the hospital staff reached through the window and tried to take me from my mothers arms, but the umbilical cord was still attached. She yelped and then they opened the door to take us both into the hospital.

Not long after, my dad had the car's interior re-done and they kept the car for a number of years. Even to this day I remember riding in it. It was a 1964 Chevy Nova, green, 2 doors and had a hole in the floor in the back where you could see the road whizzing by underneath us....