The First!

It was February, 2002. It had been a really hard previous 6 months. Phillip had his heart attack in August with angioplasty & stent; another angioplasty in October, and quadruple by-pass surgery in January. He was back in the hospital for some minor complications. Regina called and said she was bringing Phillip a special gift to the hospital that evening. Could my suspicions be true? For many years I have had this sort of sixth sense thing going on and it had kicked in a couple of weeks before this. Now was it coming true? All arrived at the hospital. My Mom & Dad (nothing really unusual), Rodney (also not unusual), Kenny Ranallo had stopped by and then Regina's Mom and Grandmother came in. The anticipation was growing. There was a reason Chris & Regina had wanted all of us there. Regina handed Phillip a gift bag and he pulled out a "thermometer". I immediately suggested that he not put it in his mouth! I was the only one that without hesitation recognized it as a pregnancy test. Maybe because I was suspicious already, but once I identified it, all were immediately excited. Of course, Aunt Stacy and Uncle Michael had been told earlier. What an inspiration for Phillip to get well. Phillip was very excited and later confessed to me that he really must take care of himself so he would be around for the baby. Our love for this child was already strong and unconditional. Our lives were already changed.