Being a dad for the first time was a thrill yet it seemed to be a sobering fact. Luckily, I had a wonderful wife who helped me get through the ordeal. Having experience with women who had gone through the trial of pregnancy, I understood what that entails and how heroic a mother to be is.
That Tuesday morning 48 years ago my wife Ellen drove me to the train station for my commute to the city of New York and my first professional job as a graphic designer. As I kissed her goodbye, she reminded me she was going to see the baby doctor that morning. I knew it was coming soon.
At work that morning I was in my office and there was a meeting going on behind closed doors about the work in progress. My wife calls and tells me she is on her way to the hospital to deliver by advisement of her doctor. I get one of the secretaries to inform my boss that I was going off to meet my child.
As I took the long and agonizing ride in the taxi from the Bay Shore railroad station to Southside Hospital, I grew very nervous, thinking about my wife in labor and being there without me. Finally, I arrive and after a few cigarettes and a worrying wait, the doctor enters the waiting room and tells me I have a daughter! I rush to the elevator to go to see my wife. As the elevator stops on a floor between where I was and where I was going, across the hallway I see an elevator stop and open, there is an incubator with my last name on it and a pink card, announcing who was occupying it. I see this beautiful pink bundle and my chest swells, just then the elevator door closed and I continue on up to see my wife.
I had my first glimpse of my new family member! I insisted we name her after her mama, Ellen.
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