Sherrie (me) 1 year old circa 1970
Each year on their respective birthdays, I like to tell my children the story of the day they were born.
My mother told me these things about my birth. First of all, I was conceived in Fairbanks, Alaska. I like that part. It makes me feel like I am an interesting, adventurous and worldly person, even thought I had nothing to do with any of it and have no recollection, obviously. I was back in Wayne, Michigan before I ever came out into the light of day to see anything at all of my surroundings. They lived on the army base in Fairbanks. My dad was an enlisted man. It was Vietnam era, 1968, but thankfully he was never sent over. He did do bomb disarmament but that mostly entailed removing a historic cannon ball from an old tree.
Around the time my mom found out she was pregnant with me, she also found out she had a bad tooth. When she visited the base dentist to have the tooth removed, she returned home with the bad tooth still in her mouth and one of her good teeth missing. She hopped the next plane headed for home. She said she missed the Chinese Elm trees in Papa Barr’s front yard and she missed my Grandma, and if the army base dentist’s work was any indication of the care she would get for the new babyon the way, she was out of there.
On March 23rd, 1969, my due date was near, so the Army sent my dad home for a three week leave of absence to be with my mother for my birth. On the very last night of his leave, I still had not made my appearance. My parents went out with Grandma and Papa Barr to the VFW to have some fun on their last night together. They were drinking, dancing, smoking and eating cheeseburgers. All things that expectant mothers would not do today. It is probably easy to guess what else they were doing on their last night together before a two-year separation. Well, apparently, that did the trick. At three weeks overdue, something finally gave, the time had come and they headed for the hospital. At 11:04a.m., on April 15th, I was born. My dad had just enough time to see me, kiss my mom, sign their income tax forms, and head back to Alaska.
My parents corresponded by mail and telephone for the remaining two years of his duty.
