As the clock neared 5 a.m. it was obvious that I was not going to sleep until well after day break; Ella, my new niece, was entering the world. I had been up the whole night and as daylight slowly stretched across the sky I found myself exhausted, but unable to sleep.
My friend was giving birth to her new daughter, my niece. As I sat outside her room my mind tangled around our journey to this hospital. My friend had told me that she was pregnant five months before she gave birth. I was excited as any friend would be, but something struck me as odd. The oddity was that my friend abandoned all of her friends, including me, many years ago and disappeared into the bay area.
During those five months leading up to the birth that she chose to communicate with me I was aware to the fact that she needed a friend, someone to trust. All of her friends, including me, had lost touch with her. During her absence there were stories that were occasionally shared which revolved around her. Many of the stories were not true, as I later discovered, because no one really knew where she was or what she was doing.
We had tried to call her, but her phone remained unanswered. The announcement of her pregnancy struck my heart and I spontaneously asked her if I could plan the baby shower. When I ask her if I could plan the shower I heard her voice quiver through
the phone but I thought little of it.
I held the shower in San Jose where she lived, but when I arrived to her apartment I found myself in utter shock. The apartment, coated with the constricting and stagnant smell of cat urine mixed with aerosol air spray, was small and unfurnished. My friend was alone. She left high school when she turned eighteen to follow some guy to the bay. I never asked who the father was, or what happened to that guy from high school, but I understood her need for help.
The baby shower was supposed to begin at noon, but no one arrived. As we sat eating cake that I made for the occasion talking about the past, I found myself admiring her spirit. I admired my friend because nothing seemed to bring her down even when she shared her deepest hardships. She asked me to return and I told her that I would be tied up with school, but would make time.
My friend called me 3 weeks ago and told me she was in labor. I arrived to the San Jose hospital close to 9 p.m. With each scream my head snapped to look towards the hallway and her room. Then there was silence. The silence began to grow and I started to get nervous.
Then I heard a new cry, a tiny cry. Ella, a beautiful brown-haired, blue-eyed girl, was born. When I was allowed to walk into the room and hold Ella I was honored, but it was when I looked at my friend that I realized the hardship that she endured.
I remember that when I glanced around her recovery room and found it eerie that there were no presents, or balloons – she was just another young, single mother. She will have a difficult journey ahead of her.
The event of my friend giving birth has taught me the value of friendship and courage. I watched my friend grow in maturity in the short five months that I spent with her. Though I am not Ella’s true related Aunt, I believe that I will be something deeper.
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Powerful column. Sad, but told without judgment of the baby's mother...
ReplyDeleteMost powerful line: "The baby shower was supposed to begin at noon, but no one arrived."
I was confused at the outset about the niece-friend notion. If that was explained more carefully at the beginning it would certainly have made the reading of this smoother.
That said, I would only advise a lot of tightening, too - which would make room for more detail.
Detail? We know the baby has blue eyes, but is the mother tall, thin, blonde-haired and pretty? And this apartment - is it in a good neighborhood, or are you afraid to walk outside at night.
Overall, nicely done.