“And now the sun’s coming up, I’m riding with Lady Luck, freeway cars and trucks,
Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I’d stayed a little longer,
Oh, Lord, let me tell you that the feeling’s getting stronger.”- Tom Waits, ‘Ol 55
Rod: Despite my best efforts, and the conviction that THIS was going to be the vehicle that stayed with me forever, at 110, 945 miles my Chevy van failed inspection the other day. To anticipate state regulations, I packed and sanded globs of Bondo into rusty holes in a fender and rocker panel, but couldn’t patch the cancerous abscess in the engine block that was leaking coolant at an alarming rate. Feeling like a battlefield scavenger, I stripped the electronic EZ-Pass tag, license plate and registration from the Venture. Another untimely death of a Bunt automobile.
December 29, 1986 was the day I was scheduled for a routine ultrasound for my second pregnancy. My husband was home with my daughter who was about to turn two years old the following week. I was going directly to work afterward and to be honest the whole thing was rather inconvenient.
I was five months pregnant, the baby was moving a lot and I felt fine. Was this really necessary? It seemed to be taking forever and finally I asked if there was a problem.
The technologist looked up and said, “I see two babies.”
I don’t think I will ever forget hearing those words.
There were no twins in my family and it was never something I considered. In a flash I thought of my daughter who was still in diapers. I thought of the Ford Mustang that would need replacing to fit three car seats and how we could not afford a new car. I thought I could never love and care for two more babies. That was when I got hysterical and we called my husband.
