This past Thursday, February 2nd, marked twelve weeks since November 10th, which was for me the best day of 2005 (all you Time Capsule fans will not be surprised to learn). Thanks to our new cell phones, I have an unusually detailed account of the events of that morning, since I can see whom I called when. 
We did answer some calls using the phone in the hospital room, so the record is incomplete, but here is what I know: at 6:26 a.m., I call Mom and Dad from our home phone and leave a message on their answering machine—water has broken, we’re going to the hospital. At 6:53, Mari calls Jaime and Maria Rosa, gets no answer, leaves a message. At 6:55, she calls Gimena, Nacho answers, Mari’s uterus contracts, she passes the phone to me and I let Nacho know—everything’s fine, Mari’s water has broken, we’re going to the hospital, tell Jaime and Maria Rosa. At 8:36, I call Lisa from the hospital (no answer) and leave a message—we’re in the thick of it, let everybody know. At 8:42, I call Tom Moss to let him know I won’t be able to teach my classes that day. At 9:24, I call Madrid and tell Jaime that all is well, we’re in the thick of it, and we’ll let him know. A
t 11:30 Emilio arrives and at 11:34 I call Madrid. Emilio lets Maria Rosa know he's in the world and doing fine. At 12:35, I call Lisa and Emilio leaves a message on her answering machine. At 12:38 and 12:41, I try to contact Tom Moss and fail. At 12:43, I call Jerry and Cathy Graff and talk to Cathy for 2 minutes (Jerry's out). At 12:46, I try calling Jack, but fail and call Julie; we talk for 3 minutes. At 12:50, I call Gerardo and talk for 2 minutes. At 12:58, Mari talks to her Jaime and Maria Rosa for six minutes. At 1:05, Mari talks to la Abuela Ines for 2 minutes. At 1:07, she talks to Gimena for 3 minutes. At 1:10, I call Brian at work and leave a message. At 1:11, I leave a message on Brian’s answering machine at home. At 1:14, I finally get Lisa and give her a nineteen-minute version of the blow-by-blow. At 1:52, Jaime calls and talks for a minute. At 1:54, 331-5-319-9151 calls and talks for 3 minutes, and calls back at 2:18 to talk for another 2. At 3:14, Jack calls and leaves a message on my answering machine. I call Jack at 3:43 and tell him the news (6 minutes). At 4:59 and 5:13 I leave messages for Julie (she and Jack are on the way and need directions to the hospital). Soon thereafter, they are the first friends to meet Emilio. At 6:17, I call Mom’s cell and talk for 9 minutes (she and Dad and Grandmom have arrived at O’Hare). At 6:26, I call her again and talk for 9 more minutes. At 8:50, I call Mom’s cell and talk for nine minutes (they need final directions to Weiss Hospital). At 8:59, we talk again for 2 minutes. Soon thereafter Emilio meets Grandmother, Granddaddy, and Great-Grandmom, all of whom caught the first flight out of Texas. Less than 24 hours later, he'll meet his abuelo Jaime and his abuela Maria Rosa, who caught the first flight out of Spain.
We did answer some calls using the phone in the hospital room, so the record is incomplete, but here is what I know: at 6:26 a.m., I call Mom and Dad from our home phone and leave a message on their answering machine—water has broken, we’re going to the hospital. At 6:53, Mari calls Jaime and Maria Rosa, gets no answer, leaves a message. At 6:55, she calls Gimena, Nacho answers, Mari’s uterus contracts, she passes the phone to me and I let Nacho know—everything’s fine, Mari’s water has broken, we’re going to the hospital, tell Jaime and Maria Rosa. At 8:36, I call Lisa from the hospital (no answer) and leave a message—we’re in the thick of it, let everybody know. At 8:42, I call Tom Moss to let him know I won’t be able to teach my classes that day. At 9:24, I call Madrid and tell Jaime that all is well, we’re in the thick of it, and we’ll let him know. A
t 11:30 Emilio arrives and at 11:34 I call Madrid. Emilio lets Maria Rosa know he's in the world and doing fine. At 12:35, I call Lisa and Emilio leaves a message on her answering machine. At 12:38 and 12:41, I try to contact Tom Moss and fail. At 12:43, I call Jerry and Cathy Graff and talk to Cathy for 2 minutes (Jerry's out). At 12:46, I try calling Jack, but fail and call Julie; we talk for 3 minutes. At 12:50, I call Gerardo and talk for 2 minutes. At 12:58, Mari talks to her Jaime and Maria Rosa for six minutes. At 1:05, Mari talks to la Abuela Ines for 2 minutes. At 1:07, she talks to Gimena for 3 minutes. At 1:10, I call Brian at work and leave a message. At 1:11, I leave a message on Brian’s answering machine at home. At 1:14, I finally get Lisa and give her a nineteen-minute version of the blow-by-blow. At 1:52, Jaime calls and talks for a minute. At 1:54, 331-5-319-9151 calls and talks for 3 minutes, and calls back at 2:18 to talk for another 2. At 3:14, Jack calls and leaves a message on my answering machine. I call Jack at 3:43 and tell him the news (6 minutes). At 4:59 and 5:13 I leave messages for Julie (she and Jack are on the way and need directions to the hospital). Soon thereafter, they are the first friends to meet Emilio. At 6:17, I call Mom’s cell and talk for 9 minutes (she and Dad and Grandmom have arrived at O’Hare). At 6:26, I call her again and talk for 9 more minutes. At 8:50, I call Mom’s cell and talk for nine minutes (they need final directions to Weiss Hospital). At 8:59, we talk again for 2 minutes. Soon thereafter Emilio meets Grandmother, Granddaddy, and Great-Grandmom, all of whom caught the first flight out of Texas. Less than 24 hours later, he'll meet his abuelo Jaime and his abuela Maria Rosa, who caught the first flight out of Spain.
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4 comments:
Sweety, I love seing the two pictures together! as well as the detail description of the day. I'm glad you have the phone records, becuase I was a little out of it and I just remember you telling me to push and Emilio on my chest for the first time.
A.......
Very merry unbirthday to you . . to you . . a very merry unbirthday to you, to you...
As I have already told you, you didn't get an answering machine on that first phone call at 8:36. You actually got me on the phone. You left the information as though you were leaving a message and hung up on me, because you were in the thick of it. I think that detail makes this story even better. And I love this story. YAYYYYYY for Emilio!
The ripples from this story extend outwards. After I spoke with you at 8:36, I jumped out of my car--Melissa and I were both driving out of the driveway for our days-- and ran over to Melissa and told her the news. Then I hopped in the car and called Brian to get the phone numbers for Grandmother and Granddaddy's schools. I called both of their schools and left urgent messages for them that Emilio was on the way and to call me. I talked to Dad first and he said he was on his way to Mom's school to pick her up (so much for all their hot air about not traveling up when Emilio arrived--i knew they were bluffing). I then talked to Mom, told her Dad was coming to pick her up, and she asked me to find out about flights to Chicago. She also asked me to call Aunt Carolyn, Grandmom and Royce. I called Brian to get him to research flights to Chicago, delivered the news to Aunt Carolyn, Grandmom and Royce and then raced into Keller Middle School to facilitate a group of 8th grade boys working on anger management. By the time I got out of that meeting, Mom and Dad and Grandmom were on their way to the airport. I called Ruth to let her know Emilio was here. And then Emilio called me. I kept that message on my cell phone for as long as my cell phone would let me. He's got a beautiful voice!
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