I
became a father one dusty, quiet harmattan morning precisely on February 17th
1998. I was going on thirty, and as my wife was led into the labor room I felt a
surge of inexplicable pride, little did I know the events that would unfold; that
I would experience a turnaround in my spiritual existence never occurred to me.
Nothing
had prepared me for the admixture of trauma and joy I experienced that morning.
Felicia never complained about any excessive abdominal pain nor was there any
warning from the doctor that the birth would be difficult. I was awakened
around 3:00 am in the morning by the sounds of Felicia groaning and holding her
lower waist. As I rushed to take her to the hospital different emotions swirled
through my body. I was happy that the baby is finally on its way and panicky
because I kept worrying about everything going wrong. In fact; I worried
because I thought things were going wrong. In my frenzied state of mind I kept
her in the car, got in, and slammed the door shut before I realized I had left
the ignition key in the house. I opened the door dashed in and was out running
in no time. I started the car and put my leg to the gas pedal. Thankfully the
streets were deserted as it usually does at that time in the morning. I sped along
the highway and made it to the hospital under five minutes.
