Posted on 01/30/2015 7:15:46 PM PST by Morgana
Readers, please join me as I take a break from my science advocacy writing and reminisce.
Four years ago around this time, I was large, uncomfortable, and more than ready to evict my first child from my fatigued body. Fast forward to the end of January, and with an audible “pop,” my water broke at 2:30 a.m. on my due date. Perched on the toilet in the uncertain dark, I yelled for my husband, “Jesse! I don’t think this is pee!” Not one of my finest moments. Little did I know, the day ahead would be filled with unsightly gems, progressively less cute than the one before.
After a few hours of failed attempts at sleeping, I devoured a bowl of chili, and headed with my husband to the hospital where my sister entered the world twenty years earlier. My daughter emerged after an arduous twelve hours of labor and an epidural that barely worked, with a double umbilical loop around her neck and a “true knot” in the cord. She looked angry, and primordially beautiful.
My sister was at college, so wasn’t able to visit us in the hospital. Nevertheless, she gave us a wonderful gift: The next morning, I received an email with a link to a special performance by Dan Wilson of the band Semisonic.
If you’re around my and my husband’s age (we’re both 32), you’ll likely remember the song “Closing Time.” The song came out when I was a self-centered, doe-eyed teenager, so of course I didn’t glean its true meaning when it was released in 1998.
My husband and I clicked the YouTube link from my sister, with our tiny newborn daughter in the bassinet next to the hospital bed, and watched in amazement. By the end, my hormones and emotions got the best of me, and I was dabbing my eyes.
Dan Wilson explains, “I hid my junior song in plain view….” If you’re a biological parent, think back to having your first child as you watch this. If you’re short on time, start listening at 3:44.
VIDEO ON LINK
If you didn’t know this before, you’re welcome. To this day, I still get choked up when I hear Closing Time on the radio.
Now stop getting sappy. I’m off to go prepare for a Frozen-themed 4th birthday party. I’ll leave you with a toast, to firstborn children, to my sister, to life. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.
My bad- same era, same title. I do remember that one though.
Please delete post #3- inadvertently off-topic.
Thank you! This just blended my college years during which I met and dated the man of my dreams, with my current mommy status with the same man of my dreams. He’s an amazing daddy and husband. This vid made me cry lol!
you can remove me - good stuff but no time for it
I have listened to this song for years and never “got it.” Now I will never hear it again, without “hearing it.”
I love stories like this one.
I was thinking of Tom Waits..
Sounds like hook-up culture to me. But every now and then the best of human nature takes hold.
Just watched the video. That song came out back when I was having babies. And I never caught the real meaning of the song, either. :-)
What a nice guy and a fun performance to watch.
My daughter is 21 now, and 6000 miles away at college where she also lives with her Mom, my ex-wife. This song was first released when my little girl was 5 years old, so the opportunity for it to be meaningful at her birth was long gone, but I'll call her up tomorrow and share this link and story with her from a long distance away. She'll like it a lot.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Thank you so much. God Bless.
Interesting. Thanks.
Please delete my post.
Thank you for posting. Great story.
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