Five years ago today – we’re coming home!

On our way home … Part Two

Five Years Ago Today … an Abby’s Road anniversary

October 9, 2009. John Lennon’s birthday. I hoped that would be a good omen …

When we last left our adventurers, we waited for one of the most bureaucratically-ensnarled states of the union to approve the interstate compact so we could go home. It was the Friday before a three-day weekend. Oy …

Starting at page 169:

“Illinois is an hour behind New York, so the offices there would not open until 10:00 a.m. our time. We weren’t expecting any news from Ronnie until noon. … I also posted (on Facebook) “(t)hanks for all the prayers for us getting to go home today. No luck though. Anyone want to join me for prayers to Wotan? Baal? Any deity that will listen?”

Noon passed. So did 1:00. Then 2:00. Then 3:00. Esther lay down in bed and cried. A few minutes later she fell asleep. The baby was fed and she slept as well. I stayed up and played World of Warcraft and waited for the baby to wake up.

Soon it was four o’clock our time; three o’clock in Illinois.

Three o’clock the Friday before a three-day weekend at a government office. By now people were sneaking between the partitions and cubicles, jumping through the bathroom windows and pushing their cars out of the parking lots. Once out of earshot they’ll start the engine and get the hell out of there. The smart ones took that Friday off months before – those left were the bitter employees who were too late to get their vacation requests approved in time.

Ties are loosened; wine and beer bottles are opened. The radio plays. “Two more hours and we’re outta here,” someone shouts from across the room. Is someone smoking? That’s doesn’t smell like tobacco…

I took my frustrations out on my fellow WOW gamers. When I had finished at four o’clock I started a Facebook post; I took my previous post to its inevitable conclusion:

“Oh Mighty Baal, please strike dead those who decided we should not be allowed to go home this weekend and curse their spawn to the third generation.”

I was ready to hit “Send” when Esther’s cell phone rang. She woke up and said hello in a groggy voice.

It was Ronnie.

We were approved to take the baby home.

I told Esther to shut off the phone in case he calls back and said it was a mistake. We would crinkle some foil in front of the phone. “Sorry, bad signal – we’re already in Pennsylvania – what? What?”

I could not have made the timing up. If I wrote it as part of a story the editors, critics and the reading masses would tear it to pieces. “What kind of melodramatic shit is this?”

I added to my Facebook post: “ – hold on! As I type this we got our call! We’re going home!!! Jesus came through at the last minute! Hurrah for Jesus (but you cut it pretty close there, Godboy! Watch it!!)!!”

Esther was a little more pleasant. She always is… “Praise God!!! We are cleared to take Abigail home. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers. We’ll be offline a couple of days. Facebook by cell phone for now. Please ignore Mike’s post.”

Harrumph!

***

The cover of Abby’s Road

“Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and how Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped” leads a couple through their days of infertility treatments and adoption. It is told with gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) humor from the perspective of a nerdy father and his loving and understanding wife.

Join Mike and Esther as they go through IUIs and IFVs, as they search for an adoption agency, are selected by a birth mother, prepare their house, prepare their family, prepare themselves and wait for their daughter to be born a thousand miles from home.

Abby’s Road is available at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Abbys-Road-Long-Winding-Adoption/product-reviews/0692221530/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

at Barnes and Noble here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abbys-road-the-long-and-winding-road-to-adoption-and-how-facebook-aquaman-and-theodore-roosevelt-helped-michael-curry/1119971924?ean=9780692221532

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

Five years ago today … a glimmer of good news …

Posted by michael64curry

On our way home … Part One

Five Years Ago Today … an Abby’s Road anniversary

We spent the week after Abby was born moving to a new motel, feeding, changing and caring for our little daughter. But we were still a thousand miles away from family and friends. She had reflux, but by switching formula and giving her some medication she felt better. I wish we felt better…

Starting at page 168:

“Ronnie called us on Thursday, October 8^th. The state of New York cleared us for interstate travel.

“Woo-hoo!” I said, “We can take the train outta here tomorrow!”

Nope. Illinois has to approve it, too. The paperwork is scheduled to arrive in Springfield tomorrow at 9:00 am.

Um, wasn’t that supposed to have been done Monday?

The timing could not have been worse. If the Department of Children and Family Services – or whoever would be in charge of such things – verbally approves our taking Abigail to Illinois Friday, we can go home.

That Monday was Columbus Day. If they didn’t approve it on Friday, it will be Tuesday. Or later.

One of my very best friends from law school works in Springfield for the Illinois senate. “Maybe we can call him and see if he can help,” Esther said. I said I doubted that he could. We didn’t call him.

Esther got on Facebook and asked friends to pray the paperwork was on the top of the anonymous bureaucrat’s pile.

I was more direct: “Everyone pray that we get verbal approval tomorrow. Pray! I SAID PRAY DAMN YOU!!!! Er, rather, we appreciate your prayers at this juncture…”

I was desperate and angry. “Let’s go home. Who’s going to know?”

“We’re not doing anything that will get us in trouble,” Esther said. She was right of course. And if it came to it I would have stayed. I just felt like saying it out loud.

That evening we ate at a 1950s-style diner. The waitress oohed and aahed over Abigail. An older couple came over to see her, as did a small child (Abby does that now – she’s done that ever since she’s been able to walk – babies love to look at babies).

It was a wonderful meal. It was a wonderful diner filled with wonderful people.

It gave us no joy.”

***

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

Five Years Ago Today – from Abby’s Road: Our baby is finally ours…

Posted by michael64curry

And Baby Makes Three …

Five Years Ago Today … an Abby’s Road anniversary

October 3, 2009. The baby is released to our custody by the birth mother’s attorney, Ronnie…

Starting at page 156:

“I drove the car to the hospital entrance, just as I did half a decade before during Esther’s battle with the fibroids. After a few minutes waiting, I walked back into the hospital. Esther, Ronnie and a nurse turned the corner and I led them to the car. On the steps Ronnie handed Abigail to Esther, who put her in the car seat.

This was the baby carrier/car seat combo we got when we rented the car. We had something like that in our car at home, too. The car seat pops off and we have instant baby carrier.

The nurse wished us luck and Ronnie said he would call us in a few days. He congratulated us and gave Esther a pat on the shoulder and shook her hand. He came around to the driver’s side and shook my hand, too.

We stopped by Target to buy supplies and formula. This was during the big Asian flu pandemic and I worried about someone sneezing near our little baby. Esther said it would be all right.

We bought diapers with Big Bird on them. Ah, the crass commercialism starting from day one, well, day three. I took a Diet Coke from the mini-fridge by the check-out counter and it was warm. Every bottle was warm – the fridge wasn’t working. The only other mini-fridge with Coke products was several aisles down, but I found a cold bottle of the stuff eventually. We each used the restroom then back to our motel with our little girl.

…our little girl…

I learned how to use the camera timer and took pictures of the three of us. Then some photos of Esther feeding Abigail for the first time. She took photos of me holding her and mugging for the camera. For the first time – for us anyway – Abby’s eyes were open and she squeaked and cooed.

She had beautiful dark eyes – nearly black.

I tested her grasp reflexes.

Grasp reflexes were mentioned in all those books I read months before. Abigail grabbed my thumbs tightly in her little hands. This is, supposedly, a throw-back to the days when babies held on for dear life to the hair on their homo-habilis mommas as they climbed from tree to tree; this was back in the day when the appendix and the tonsils had a purpose.

My little Abigail snuggled on my chest. She was as tiny as the baby dolls we bought for her.

It was October 3^rd. It was exactly – exactly (even to the hour) – nine months ago I asked Esther if she would consider adopting.

Abigail was more beautiful than she was in the hospital. Pouty lips, round nose, prominent eyebrows, deep dark eyes, feathery hair and soft skin. We’ve only had her for two hours and I already loved her. I loved her with all my heart.”

***

And I still do…

This will be the last Abby’s Road anniversary for many days – we have a baby to take care of!

***

The cover of Abby’s Road

“Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and how Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped” leads a couple through their days of infertility treatments and adoption. It is told with gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) humor from the perspective of a nerdy father and his loving and understanding wife.

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

Five years ago today we meet our daughter…

Posted by michael64curry

Happy … um … day after your Birthday!

Five Years Ago Today … an Abby’s Road anniversary

October 2, 2009. The baby was born the evening before and we were able to go see her that evening.

Starting at page 145:

“A plastic baby bed was wheeled into the room. Abigail was lying on it with her head poking out of a white blanket with sea-green, pink and white stripes. She had a thin spread of hair on the top and sides of her head. She had acne on her cheek.

To me babies either look like Churchill or Gandhi. Abby was firmly in the Churchill camp. She had full lips – puffy lips – and thick cheeks and jowls. She had a round button nose and long eyelashes. Her ears were flat against her head. Everything looked proportioned – the ears, eyes (or at least her eyelids), mouth and nose were neither too small nor too large for her head. She looked like a baby doll.

She was so beautiful.

The baby bed had clear plastic walls on each side. A pink slip of paper was taped near the top of one wall. It read “Abigail (Valerie’s last name)”. Valerie agreed to call her Abigail from the start. When Abby starts to rebel as a teen and gives us the “You’re not my real parents! Curry isn’t my real last name” treatment, we can at least say her name was always Abigail.

Esther snuck a photo from her cell phone. I asked the nurse at the station if we could take pictures. I had brought my camera hoping we could. The nurse said, “We usually don’t allow it, but you can take a few. That will be okay.”

I was a good boy and only took four pictures. The first photo looked like she had snot all over her top lip, but there was a lot of grime and slime on the glass/mesh walls of the nursery as well as the plastic walls of the baby bed. What looked like copious boogers was just goo on the clear plastic wall – a strange experiment in forced perspective. The entire time she slept on her right side. She didn’t move or cry while we were there.

Esther leaned in front of the window the entire time. She wore her blue cape and stood as still as stone for twenty minutes watching her daughter. I took advantage of the zoom lens to take photos around her. She smiled the entire time. Esther was as beautiful as her baby. Still is.

It was time to go. We smiled at Abigail one last time and went through the vault door, into the elevator and out into the cold dark. We went home and posted our photos on Facebook. Valerie’s attorney called us – at 5:00 the next evening we could take her home…”

***

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

The Waiting is the Hardest Part … actually giving birth is … but …

Posted by michael64curry

The Waiting is the Hardest Part – well, I’m pretty sure actually giving birth is harder than waiting, but …

Five Years Ago Today … an Abby’s Road anniversary

October 1, 2009. The baby is due today. We’ve been told that before …

Starting at page 145:

“… Today Valerie will be induced and the baby born. She was scheduled to go into the hospital at 7:00 am. Except for drive-through in the nearby McDonalds we spent the day in our motel room.

…

She will share a birthday with actors Walter Matthau, James Whitmore, Tom Bosley, George Peppard, Julie Andrews, Richard Harris, Rod Carew and St. Louis Cardinal’s Mark McGwire. It is also the birthday of Randy Quaid, with whom I share a bond. At the time he made news for also running up a $10,000.00 motel bill.

“What are you mumbling about?” Esther said.

“I was just thinking, today is Thursday. How does that go? Monday’s child is full of grace, Tuesday’s child is in your face, Wednesday’s Child had roast beef, Thursday’s child had none, Destiny’s Child sang ‘Bootilicious’… “

“Sweetie, I think you need to take a nap…” And so I did.

…

Esther posted on Facebook – today was the day. She asked for prayers for an easy and safe delivery. “And fast,” I added, “Don’t forget fast or it will be a three-month delivery! Don’t give God any wiggle room here!”

“Sweetie, nap.”

“Yes, my dearest love. Zzzzzz…”

Esther’s cell phone rang at 11:30. It was Jonathan! Here it is! This is it!

“There’s been some progress, but the baby hasn’t been born yet.”

Facebook post at noon: Birthmother still “in labor” – this kid will be born with a driver’s license.

Facebook post, 1:00 pm: The baby better be born soon: the only thing left to do is a Howard Jones concert this weekend. And I’ll go! GOD HELP ME, I’LL GO!!!

Facebook post, 2:00 pm: C’mon Abigail, I’m starting to take this personally. I think she’s grabbed hold of an intestine and refuses to come out. {Yank, yank} “No, you can’t make me!!!”

Esther’s cell phone rang again at 3:00 pm. It was Jonathan! Here it is! This is it!

Facebook Post, 3:30 pm: Nothing yet! Doctor had a C-section to do (read: tough par three) and will “check in” on birth mother. She’s been given pain meds. Me? None. Esther has been sedated.

Esther’s Facebook Post, 4:00 pm: At 3:30 the Doctor had not been back in to check – off doing a c-section on another patient. Pains were getting stronger at that time. No word yet. Still waiting…

And that was the last we heard that day. I got McDonald’s drive-through for dinner and Esther and I waited for news.

Facebook Post, 10:00 pm: good grief.

I remembered Mark Twain: “All good things arrive unto them that wait – and don’t die in the meantime.”

Esther’s Facebook Post, 10:10 pm: No news. Will update when we know more.

By 10:30 I was ready to go to bed.

And the evening and the morning were the 13^th day…”

***

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

I slept through the night; that surprised me. I expected to wake at any noise thinking it was the phone. Esther woke shortly after I did – around eight or so. We were both still lying in bed reading when her cell phone rang at ten.

It was Jonathan. Here we go again. Valerie was sent home. False alarms, maybe next week.

Abigail was born on October 1, 2009 at 11:10 pm, seven pounds, fourteen ounces. Twenty and three-fourths inches.

Our daughter is here!

My little baby girl is here!

…

So now what?

***

The cover of Abby’s Road

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

Walt Whitman and the Amityville Horror – an Abby’s Road anniversary!

Posted by michael64curry

Walt Whitman and the Amityville Horror

Five Years Ago Today … an Abby’s Road anniversary

September 30, 2009. The baby was due tomorrow. Of course, by now the baby’s delivery date had been delayed and cancelled more times than a Jeff Beck concert, but we were cautiously optimistic. As with our visit to Theodore Roosevelt’s home several decades before (Esther insists it was only ten days), we … well. I … wanted to get in some last bits of sight-seeing…

Starting at page 143:

“We spotted the signs for Walt Whitman’s birthplace on our Sunday drive. It was closed that day and Monday and Tuesday, so we went back on Wednesday. It had a small museum but it was packed with information about a person of which I knew very little. I read “Leaves of Grass” in high school. That was it.

His father built the home over 200 years before (between 1810 and 1814) and Esther and I enjoyed walking through it. It was just she, me and our tour guide. He was a very nice gentleman who could not be budged from his rehearsed lectures. He ignored some of my questions until we got to that part of his lecture.

We had fun befuddling him, though. You could tell he was used to school children or adults who were not raised as lower-class mid-westerns.

He picked up a piece of wood. “Can anyone guess what this is?” “A bootjack” said Esther.

“Umm, that’s right… This?” He held up a large metal cylinder with a rod in the middle.

“Fireplace rotisserie.”

“Ummm, yes… “

…

***

Also during our Sunday drive we found Amityville. Yes, that Amityville. I was tickled. I am a horror fan from way back. I wanted to go back and find … the house.

During the week I found out what I could about “The Amityville Horror”. The story generated a lot of controversy in Amityville. The city itself wants nothing to do with the publicity and sides with the debunkers. The city changed the address and the house was extensively remodeled. Horror fans still found it – the back of the house still retains the distinctive peaked roof.

Esther went with me and smiled at my joy in finding the street. We drove it a few times until I was sure I had found the house. I went to the next street around the estuary where I spotted the dock, the boat house and peaked roof unchanged. I took photographs from the car. I didn’t want to get out in case it annoyed the neighbors. If they were as kind as other Long Islanders we met, I suspect they would let me take my few pics as long as I left when I was done. I did.

Amityville is a lovely town! Lots of boutiques and places to eat. When we go back in years to come we’ll spend more time there to thank them for their patience in letting a giddy horror fan snap some photographs from his car.”

***

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

Harry Potter and the “why the hell isn’t my daughter born yet!?”

Posted by michael64curry

Another anniversary! Five years ago today …. from page 128:

“On Thursday September 24^th we wanted something different to do. What about a movie? What was playing? Not much. Some miles east of Bethpage we found a theater playing movies from the past summer. We found the theater online and the only thing that we wanted to see was “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”.

I was in a sour mood after no-baby-on-our-anniversary. So much so my Facebook post that morning quoted Lawrence Grossman, “You wait for a gem in an endless sea of blah.”

Later that morning, our anticipation of the movie was made known to our Facebook friends.

Mike: “It has come to this: we are going to see an afternoon matinee of Harry Potter and the Last Temple of the Crystal Jedi, or whatever the hell it is…”

Esther: “…and Mike are going to go see the new Harry Potter movie – hopefully this will “induce” a phone call. If not, I’ll finally get to see the movie.”

Mike: “Oh Lord, if you are a kind and benevolent God please let us get the phone call before I have to sit through – er, rather – before we get to the theater!”

The theater was in a plaza with a Barnes & Noble and other shops. We stopped in the book store until it was time for the movie.

Esther’s cell phone rang as we stepped out of the car in the theater parking lot. “It’s the attorney!” Esther said. Valerie’s attorney!

I stood next to the driver’s side door; Esther by the passenger door with the phone on her ear. “Uh-huh…”

“Uh-huh … That’s good…”

By this time I was trembling and smoke was coming out of my ears. “For god’s sake provide some exposition!!”

Esther shook her head. I took this to mean no baby news. After the call Esther said he was calling to give us an update. After the Sunday night fiasco he probably decided some kind of control and oversight was needed. He was right. He was a week too late, but he was right.

“He said Valerie was feeling just fine.”

“Oh goodie,” I said without further comment. We were still standing beside the car.

“He said he was sorry for our extended stay, but we were going to go home with a baby.”

…

“Twenty one dollars!?”

“That’s total,” said the lady in the ticket booth.

“You think I’d be more outraged if it was twenty-one each? Is Rowling going to sit next to me and narrate the damn thing!?”

Popcorn and two drinks cost even more than that. They had to have some way to pay for the mortgage on the theater. The place was immense! The auditorium was the size of a small baseball park. The chairs were larger and more comfortable than mine at home. Esther and I could barely reach to hold hands during the movie. Sweet!

Three hours later, after a myriad of commercials, previews and the main attraction, I saw “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood formerly known as Prince”. I haven’t been this lost since I saw … well … “Lost”. The bit after the credits was cool though – Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury invites Harry to join the Avengers. I tease — the movie was pretty good, but it took Esther explaining most of the back-story to me on the way home to understand it. It’s getting to the point in the series that non-fans of the books should probably just stay home. Alan Rickman’s revelation that he is the half-blood prince almost seemed tacked on at the last minute, “Oh, shoot! We’d best explain the mystery of the title of the movie. At the time the best analogy I can come up with is if Lucas called the first Star Wars movie “Attack of the Sandpeople” —yes, but it was so dwarfed by the incidents of the rest of the movie as to be incidental.

Later I thought of a better analogy – what if the book was called “Harry Potter and the Potions Class”.

And yes I gave away the secret of the movie – it was from 2009 for god’s sake, chill out! Rosebud is a sled; Darth Vader is Luke’s father; the chick on “Crying Game” was a man and Norman Bates’ mother is dead.

So there.

Esther checked her phone all through the movie, dinner that night and throughout the evening. No emails, no messages. No baby. Not today.”

***

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

… and how Theodore Roosevelt Helped! A big Abby’s Road anniversary!

Posted by michael64curry

With all the hubbub of Ken Burns’ Roosevelt documentary on PBS last week this Abby’s Road anniversary is appropriate!

September 23rd is our wedding anniversary. On our honeymoon we stayed at the outskirts of a major eastern US city (Boston) and visited the homeplace and burial site of a major US President (John Adams), the subject of a great book by David McCullough.

Five years ago today, we were awaiting the birth of our soon-to-be adopted daughter, and on our anniverary, we stayed at the outskirts of a major eastern US city (New York) and visited the homeplace and burial site of a major US President (Theodore Roosevelt), the subject of a great book by David McCullough.

September 23rd was the baby’s original due date. “It was meant to be,” we said a lot that summer. So if we were going to be caring for baby we had better see the sites we wanted to see now! The baby wasn’t born that day after all, but we still had a wonderful day together!

From page 120:

Sagamore Hill was the home of President Theodore Roosevelt Jr. He bought the land and built the house in the early 1880s and lived there from 1885 until his death in 1919.

Theodore Roosevelt is that one guy on Mount Rushmore that isn’t on any money.

TR is one of my favorite presidents, if only because his life was so fascinating. If I wrote a novel about a character whose life mirrored Roosevelt’s no one would buy it. He was his own “Mary Sue” character; a pulp character in the vein of Doc Savage. It would not surprise me if someone discovered TR put on a mask and cape at night and fought crime.

He died in his bed in 1919. Here, at Sagamore Hill.

It’s a beautiful place. The lawn is manicured, sidewalks roll throughout the park; all dominated by the huge blue house. There are also out-buildings, barns, a smokehouse and a small windmill, too; but the house dominates.

We were early and the first tour of the house did not start for 45 more minutes, so we walked the grounds and took pictures.

We sat on a bench and watched the caretakers mow, pick up litter, sticks and leaves; we watched a turkey cautiously walk past. It was a beautiful day – not hot, but warm enough for me to still wear shorts. I savored where I was and Esther and I held hands and basked in each other’s company.

The porch was huge – bigger than most living rooms. TR would use this porch for lectures and speeches. There was plenty of room up here for chairs for other dignitaries. I stood looking beyond to the Long Island Sound; imagining Roosevelt pontificating and banging the podium with his fist.

The words “Qui Plantavit Curabit” were carved and painted in gold over the main entrance. I think it means “bananas are good for you”.

The tour began at the side entrance – where they bricklayers were restoring the driveway. We were told not to speak with the bricklayers as they were busy working. We had been talking to them for the past twenty minutes…

… We saw the bedrooms where the children and servants slept. We saw the bed in which TR died. We saw his study; the walls of which were lined with his trophies and memorabilia. Two feet in front of me was a glass case with his Rough Rider uniform. I gazed at it for hours, it seemed.

An elderly gentleman had a hard time climbing the many narrow staircases and asked everyone else to go first. I did not mind and motioned him to go ahead of me – it gave me a chance to look at the many pictures on the wall and the many roped-off rooms while I waited.

Esther was even more enthralled. She loves old houses and antique furniture. She didn’t want to leave. (She was also the prettiest site I saw that day … or any day!)

I’m not that much into old houses and furniture unless there is some historic significance to it.

“Do you want to tour a Queen Anne-style house built in the 1880s?”

“No.”

“Do you want to tour a Queen Anne-style house built in the 1880s that Teddy Roosevelt lived in?”

“Heck, yeah!! Try to keep me away!”

***

The cover of Abby’s Road

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

The cover of Abby’s Road

September 21st – another Abby’s Road anniversary!

Posted by michael64curry

Five years ago today we thought our baby was being born! From page 116:

“{ring ring}. Esther’s cell phone went off at 3:00 that morning. It could only be one thing.

Jonathan called – he was taking Valerie to the hospital. This was it! Battlestations! Battlestations! We washed and got to the hospital (having already driven the route – you see? smart…) about an hour after the call.

The only part of the hospital open at 4:00 Monday morning was the ER. Esther and I were the only people there. Strike that, we were the only conscious people there. Two men were asleep on the couches. They must have been homeless or visitors or both: they weren’t bleeding and they didn’t seem to be waiting on anyone.

I got impatient and walked to the other rooms. After fifteen minutes a nurse (maybe a nurse, maybe not, but some kind of lady-in-scrubs) finally appeared at the window. We explained that Valerie checked in some time in the past hour – she was going to have a baby. She made a call and showed us to the elevators. Maternity was on the third floor.

I wonder what ever happened to the two men on the couch.

The waiting area of the maternity ward consisted of a faux-leather loveseat and a large sectional shaped in a right angle. There was a coffee table, lots of out-dated magazines and the omnipresent television on which someone was selling knives.

A few attendants walked through the lobby – we tried to stop as many as we could to let them know we were here for Valerie. They said they would do what they could.

Around 4:30 a man walked into the waiting area. He wore a sweatshirt and sweatpants. He was tall – taller than me and I’m 6’3”. He was big – well over 300 pounds, maybe 350. He looked like a friend we knew from our old church named John. Thick glasses, salt-and-pepper hair cut short; a beard. A few teeth missing.

It was Jonathan. He asked if we were Esther and Mike and we said yes. He told us Valerie was fine and it was another false contraction. They were getting ready to send her home.

So that meant we should go home too. We thanked Jonathan and took the elevator back to the emergency room and out to our car and to the motel.

We were never supposed to meet the birth parents. I guess we were lucky Valerie wasn’t leaving at that time. “I don’t want to meet the adopting couple; I don’t want to see the baby.” We respected her wishes and wanted to honor them. Valerie must have known we were in the waiting room – some nurse or attendant must have said she had some “friends” out here waiting to hear how she was.

When the doctor or nurse told Valerie it was a false alarm, did she ask an attendant to tell us to go home? Did Jonathan say, “I’ll go tell them. Don’t worry.” Did he describe us to her? Or did she stop him, “I don’t want to know.” That’s silly – we sent her photos so she knew what we looked like. But if you think about it, photos don’t really say much. A thousand words. How can a thousand words really capture someone’s personality?”

***

Abby’s Road is available at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Abbys-Road-Long-Winding-Adoption/product-reviews/0692221530/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

at Barnes and Noble here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abbys-road-the-long-and-winding-road-to-adoption-and-how-facebook-aquaman-and-theodore-roosevelt-helped-michael-curry/1119971924?ean=9780692221532

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

September 19th: An Abby’s Road Anniversary!

Posted by michael64curry

The cover of Abby’s Road

Friday September 19th marks the 5th anniversary of our flying to Long Island New York to await the birth of our daughter. She will likely be born by the time we get settled into our motel room. Where’s that spooky music coming from?
Starting at page 105:
“Airplane travel. All those stand-up comedians are right, you know. How can I add to the litany of complaints made by guys in sport coats in smoky rooms saying, “What’s the deal with flying?”
Get in line to have your luggage irradiated and your anal cavity inspected. Get in line to get your line ticket. Get in line to get in the airplane. Wedge yourself next to a man with pointy elbows and body odor. Drink your shot glass of Coca-cola. Eat the 6 peanuts from the sealed snack bag. Try not to sneeze on the bald head of the guy in front of you whose seat is pushed back to your chest. Wish the guy in back of you who has been talking since he sat down would have a stroke. All while hoping you don’t die ablaze in a corn field.
…
(Seated in front of us) …were two men in their twenties roaring drunk and talking as if they were sitting in a bowling alley next to the ball return. They discussed baseball, football, hockey, then back to baseball. They asked the stewardess for drink after drink.
By the end of the two-hour flight they sucked the plane’s stock dry. Imagine if this were a movie – each would be played by an obnoxious Vince Vaughn in a split-screen. That comes close. One guy had a voice very much like Vaughn’s from “Wedding
Crashers”.
They had a three-seat row to themselves – no one sat between them. Good lord, who would want to? Maybe they did that on purpose: act as loud and obnoxious as possible and you get a row to yourself.
After an hour they eventually turned into Charlie Brown adults. “Wah-wah, wah wah-wah-wah.” I leaned my head against the window to watch the world pass underneath hoping to drown them out.
It worked somewhat – the trouble was now I could hear the old man behind me.
The Describer.
For the next hour the gentleman behind me described the landscape to (presumably) his wife sitting next to him. Every few seconds a low raspy voice would sound out…
“There’s a bean field.”
“There’s a baseball field.”
“That house has a swimming pool.”
“There’s the Atlantic Ocean.” Ah, that’s what that big blue wobbly thing going to the horizon was …
We both brought paperback books to read for the trip, and Esther managed to read peacefully. I barely managed two pages.
<read read> “wah-wah-wah, wah-wah”
<read read> “that must be the Potomac”
Hell. Hell, I tell you! I was never more eager to get out of a plane. But de-boarding provided no solace. As with any airline trip, the same yahoos sitting around you in the plane also follow you through the gate and onto the terminals.
After two plus hours of boarding and flying I had to use the bathroom. Esther did too, but she said she would wait. She watched the luggage (all carry-on; we checked nothing) while I went to pee. The restroom – the last bastion for peace and quiet for a man.
Or so was the hope, until the Describer walked up to the urinal next to me.
“Urine is going through the urethra; passing the penile tip. I’m urinating now.”
I finished, washed my hands, left the restroom, told Esther it was her turn, sat by my bags and wept…”

***

and at Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/457270

	Harold Cortez on RIP Stan Lee … thank you…
	The Warlord: DC Comi… on More on The Warlord – a…
	michael64curry on A review of the Flash Season F…
	Mohammed Zakir on A review of the Flash Season F…
	A review of the Flas… on Arrow Season 6: same old same…

Currytakeaways

From the author of "Abby's Road" The Long & Winding Road to Adoption, and how Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt helped!"

Author: michael64curry

Five years ago today – we’re coming home!

Five years ago today … a glimmer of good news …

Five Years Ago Today – from Abby’s Road: Our baby is finally ours…

Five years ago today we meet our daughter…

The Waiting is the Hardest Part … actually giving birth is … but …

Walt Whitman and the Amityville Horror – an Abby’s Road anniversary!

Harry Potter and the “why the hell isn’t my daughter born yet!?”

… and how Theodore Roosevelt Helped! A big Abby’s Road anniversary!

September 21st – another Abby’s Road anniversary!

September 19th: An Abby’s Road Anniversary!