Merci

I’ve been in front of a monitor since 10 this morning and I’ve already got a splitting headache. What do a migraine got to do with being a daddy? Well, it reminded me of the time my first born was delivered to us. It took nine hours of labor and I was sitting all that time outside the delivery room from 10 in the morning until 7 in the evening. I remember having an intense pain in the left temple like somebody’s driving a nail in by 6 P.M.

She was our first baby and we’ve been waiting for 2 years for her to come into our life. You just can imagine the excitement building up to her predicted time of delivery. I have even prepared an approprioate name for her, Merci. I saw Van Damme’s movie about the Legion and there’s one line there that ended with “merci.” I thought that sounded like a girl’s name and it means “Thank you.” I was really thankful for the Lord’s blessing and I wanted her to know and remember it her whole life.

Then, wham! The doctor said my wife was having a difficult labor. I was mostly alone in that dark corridor leading, lonely and terrified. A lot of unthinkable thoughts crossed my mind and I remember praying ”Lord, I didn’t have an easy life and I seldom complain, don’t I deserve a break?” He must have thought it over for some time for an hour later I heard a wail that went right through those closed double-doors. That brought my head up and made me pray harder that let the tot be mine. Nearly another hour passed before a nurse opened the door, timidly cradling a bundle which will become a source of joy and headache for me and my wife. I felt real proud holding her. Even as I’m writing this, my heart still aches at the thought of her. People say she looks more after my sister and mom than me but I don’t care. She came from me and she’s mine.