30 Years Ago Today

Today my little brother turned 30!  His sweet wife Lacy asked me to send her some memories of Jason.  I thought it would be fun to share my 5 favorite memories of Jason here too.


1.  I'll never forget the day my mom got out of the shower, put on a bathrobe and called to me, "I think I might be in labor."  I was a know-it-all 15 year old who replied, "What do you mean you "might" be in labor?  You'd better figure it out."  She was pretty sure that her water had broken.  Her past labors had all been very short, so she knew she needed to get to the hospital soon.  The only problem was that my Dad wasn't home.  He had gone to look at a set of encyclopedias.

We found the newspaper ad and called the owner of the encyclopedias.  Fortunately, we were able to track Dad down and he came right home to take mom to the hospital.  Just a couple of hours later we got a phone call telling us that our baby brother had arrived.  We knew his name would be Jason, a name my parents had chosen 8 years earlier when Jenny was born.  Unfortunately, Jenny was not thrilled to hear that she had a new brother.  She wanted a girl.  She started crying and complaining, "I don't want a BOY!"

Fortunately, I handled the situation very gently, by yelling at her and telling her she couldn't act that way.  Of course that made her cry even harder.  Fortunately, she eventually did calm down and warmed up to the idea of a baby brother.

2.  Shortly after Jason was born, they transported him to Children's Hospital.  I don't remember exactly what was wrong, but I don't think it was anything too serious.  My mom was still recovering and the hospital wouldn't release her.  She was very upset to be separated from her newborn baby.  She wanted someone to be with him, so I had the opportunity to help care for my baby brother.  I spent many hours at the hospital rocking little Jason and giving him his first bottles.  It was a very sweet experience and I loved all the uninterrupted time with my baby brother.  When one of the nurses referred to Jason as my "son", I was shocked.  I explained that he was my brother and the nurse started laughing and said, "Oh thank goodness!"

3.  When Jason was a little boy, I liked to go walking with my mom.  One day we passed a certain spot and Mom told me that they had seen a dead animal there.  She described how Jason was so worried about the little creature and even shed a few tears.  She was so pleased with him for being so thoughtful and sensitive.  Over the next few years, nearly every time we walked by that place, Mom would repeat the story of her "sensitive" boy.  I got a little tired of hearing her brag about Jason, but she couldn't help it.  She was just so proud of him.

4.  Jason was 8 years old when Ryan was born. Jason and David loved being uncles and they enjoyed playing with baby Ryan.  Two years later, when I was about to have another baby, Jason came to talk to me.  He was very serious as he described his problem.  "David and I think that Ryan is the cutest baby in the world and we love him so much. We don't think you could ever have another baby as cute as him.  What are we going to do when this baby comes?"  I think he just wanted to warn me.  Fortunately, Aaron was not an ugly baby and they loved him too.
Jason now has two little ones of his own and I think he'd say they are even cuter than Ryan!

5. When Ryan and Aaron were younger I started having a problem with them.  Whenever we got in the car, they rolled down the windows and yelled crazy things at people.  I told them to stop, but the next time we went somewhere they were at it again.  Usually they didn't say anything inappropriate, it was just silly things like yelling "Happy Kwanzaa" in the middle of July.  But it drove me crazy!  Finally, I sat them down for a talk.  They said that they just wanted to be like their teenage uncle Jason.  He ALWAYS did that whenever they rode with him! 



BONUS memory:
Today also makes me think of my Mom.  She worked so hard to get Jason here.  Before her pregnancy with Jason, she had endured several miscarriages including one at nearly 6 months along.  To give Jason a fighting chance she endured surgery and months of bed rest.  Although I complained about how hard it was on me (Ha!) at the time, I am grateful to my mom for being willing to do whatever was necessary to bring her baby into the world.  (And she did it all again two years later at age 41 for my brother David.  But that's another story.)