MY THREE ANGELS … 1965

This is a pretty grainy blow-up of an old Polaroid picture of my three children. I know the quality is poor but I have very few pictures of them all together, so I treasure it. I have it framed and sitting on my desk where I see it every day.

The thing that amazes me is that, although 43 years have passed, they still retain the same basic personality traits that they had from the day they were born. All three births were entirely different also.

Mark, my oldest boy, was a typical first-baby birth. I probably went to the hospital too early but was admitted and 24 hours later he was born. He was an exceptionally docile baby and we were entirely spoiled by the time that number two came along. “This baby rearing thing is a cinch”, my husband told me.

Today, at age 49, Mark is an architect, a voracious reader, a quiet and serious person with a quirky sense of humor.

A year and 15 days after Mark’s birth our middle child, Matthew, was born. I was experiencing a heavy, pushing feeling and, upon checking with the Dr., was told to get to the hospital ASAP. Since we lived in NY City we had no car and the cab driver was less than happy when he realized that this baby might come at any moment, and in his cab, no less.

We barely made it and Matt was born the minute I hit the maternity floor. He came out screaming and the only time he stopped for the next 4 months was when he was eating. As he grew the crying stopped but he had (and has) an insatiable curiosity and would stay awake hours beyond his bedtime, talking to himself and climbing out of his crib and then his bed.

Today, at age 48, Matt has his own remodeling business, hosts a 4 person rock band in his music garage (including Mark on drums), loves tending to his two acres of lawn, fruit trees and flowers and is the family kidder.

In October of 1961 our little girl, Jody, was born. I was having many problems with this pregnancy and about a month before she was due I was admitted to the hospital to be observed. I was lucky to be there because I experienced a placenta-previa birth and the Dr. had to perform an emergency caesarean operation.

Jody was very frail and had to remain in the hospital after I was released. It broke our heart to see her hooked up to so many lines and looking so small in the big hospital crib. However she thrived and is now co-owner with her husband of an Antique Shop in New York. She doesn’t let an opportunity go unexplored and the boys have nicknamed her “the force“.

It’s interesting to me that they all retain the basic qualities that they were born with. Have you found that to be true with your children?