During the early years in my sister's marriage, the subject of having a child could never be brought up. My mother was sick with cancer and Mary was a nervous wreck most of the time. After our mother had passed, Mary called me one day and said she was pregnant. All I could do was cry. I was experiencing a feeling of sadness and happiness at the same time. It was truly an overwhelming sensation. Tears rolled down my face and chills crawled up my spine. Finally, a happy moment to look forward to. Mary's pregnancy was nothing like mine or my other sisters. Her face didn't blow up like the child in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory who ate the blueberry candy, nor was she constantly sick.
In fact, she was grocery shopping in the grocery store when she went into labor. Up and down the aisle as if on a shopping mission with nothing else to do. A pain struck her lower back; an uncomfortable feeling like a sharp cramping pain. Mary finished her shopping and went home. The phone rang a little after dinner. It was Mary calm as could be expressing that she was in labor and wanted to know if I wanted to be in the hospital room with her while she was gave birth. As much as I wanted to answer her question, I could not. My throat became dry and scratchy. The words just weren't there. All I could utter out was, "I"ll meet you at the hospital". .