Happy Birthday

21 years ago tonight, it started to get very cold in Sacramento.

The due date for our first child was already past, so we knew that it was going to happen at any time. That night, we shared a bottle of champagne with a friend, because as Debra said, "I can't imagine a glass of champagne is going to do any harm at this point."

Around 2:30 a.m., we drove to the hospital. We were there for quite a while; in fact, over the course of the next 12 hours we would go through all three doctors who made up the practice that was overseeing the birth of our child.

And it just kept getting colder.

In the morning, Debra's mother and grandmother came to the hospital, and my mother and father joined them soon thereafter. We were there for quite a while. On this occasion, there was plenty of time for an epidural. And by the time he was born, we had quite a crowd going.

At 5:17 on December 20, 1990 Son #1 was born. Every moment of that time is etched upon my memory; I can remember each moment as if it were yesterday.

That night, it got so cold that all the pipes in our house froze. I unfroze them the next morning with a portable hair dryer. To this day, it remains the coldest night in Sacramento of my lifetime. When we came home from the hospital two days later, my mom and dad were able to keep a stash of frozen food in their trunk, because the high temperature never got above freezing. It was a cold day outside, but it was filled with warmth inside the house.

And tomorrow, that baby boy turns 21. It hardly seems possible.

Happy birthday!