Birthdays

Today is my son Aaron's birthday! He is the wonderful guy who is responsible for our new verandah that I wrote about in the summer. Of course birthdays are for the birthday people but they are also a day for parents. Lives are changed forever with the birth of a first child.

Aaron might have been born the day before; that's when I was induced. My doctor, a very short man, climbed up onto a little stool and poked me with an instrument that looked like a knitting needle. "There", he pronounced. "That should do the trick. I'm going home now, to start digging a bomb shelter in my back yard." It was the day that Ronald Reagan was elected president of the U.S.

We spent the better part of the morning arguing with one of the nurses about my last name. She declared that there was no way that she could bring a baby to me that did not have the same last name on his bracelet as mine. My identification bracelet was changed three times. At one point, she enquired, "This Knott that you go by...is that your stage name?" Pat confirmed that I was indeed, a Broadway actor.

Later we walked the halls in a circle, trying to encourage labour. Every time we passed the corner room, the woman inside was yelling "Hey!" So every time he heard that, Pat would follow with "Jude." It was a long day.

Of course it all ended in the delivery room with Pat and a team of medical folks. As they all encouraged me to "push, push push", I felt like we were at a football game and I was the only guy on the team.

Yes, that day changes you forever. Happy Birthday Aaron. I love you!