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Monday, May 15, 2006

Jenni; Against All Odds


I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "Damn! Who are these fabulous looking folks in the picture that Jenni posted?" And don't worry; I'll get to that.

I wanted to do an ode to my mom for Mother's Day, but I got sidetracked and it has everything to do with this photo I found in a box of photos I took from my parents house.

For those of you who know me, you know that my siblings are MUCH older than me. As a matter of fact, my mom was twenty years old when she had my older brother and was forty years old when she had me, and had two more in between with the youngest being fifteen years my elder.

If I were to guess, based solely upon fashion and the age of my siblings and cousins, this photo was probably taken around 1973, three years before I was born.

My mom is the classy dame wearing the navy sleeveless crewneck, black glasses and hair pulled back in a fancy up-do. Isn't she lovely?

My father is the guy in the white and blue butterfly collared shirt sandwiched between two strapping fells who way to closely resemble Beck,and Kelso, from "That 70's Show." Incidentally, these two just happen to be my brothers.

My sister is sitting down in front on the very left, the one with the barrette and the red pants...who would later move on to become a beauty queen and a hypochondriac. Despite this, I love her all the same.

But there was one thing missing...ME!

Recently my mom shared with me how she found out she was pregnant, which is strange, it took 30 years for her to tell me, or maybe it took 30 years for me to ask. Anyway, it was about a year after my father had brain surgery to remove a tumor from his pituitary gland, and back then neuro-surgery came with a lot more risk than today. (This is also where I believe the seed for the earlier mentioned hypochondronism was planted...Wait, is that even a word? "Hypochondronism?...Whatever.)

Apparently my mom wasn't feeling well so she went to the doctor where they ran some tests and told her to come back the next day. When she did, they placed her in the maternity section of the hospital. Now to any other individual such a blatant placement would probably lead one to believe they were...ahhhh...pregnant. (Hey, I said she was lovely, I didn't say she was sharp...just kidding mom) She said she thought to herself that they must be really busy to put her there and when the doctor came in and said, "Do you know why you're in this room?" It all hit her like a ton of bricks...She was pregnant!

She went on to tell me that the doctor went on to explain the risks of having me, with her being at a ripe old age of 40 and said, "You know, you don't have to have this baby." To which (thankfully) my mom said, "I AM SO HAVING THIS BABY!" And the rest is history.

I've always written myself off as a mistake and I've taken my mom's term "afterthought" as a more polite way to say "mistake." That is until recently. Now looking back on it I realized that after my dad's surgery my parents must have found a new lease on life and decided to give it another go...which I guess is also pretty fortunate for me.

Which leads me to the title of my E! True Hollywood Story "Jenni; Against All Odds." Now I just need to become wildly famous and worthy of an hour-long spot on E! Hey, if Todd Bridges made it, so can I.

In all seriousness though, I hope all of you thanked your Moms this Mother's Day, because without her...well...you know!

12 comments:

Lisa said...

Love the story. We, your virtual friends, are glad you were born.

Anonymous said...

What a great story. And from that photo, it looks like your family had its own little Brady Bunch going there.

Bud said...

Enchanting story. My mom tried that too at age 40. It didn't work out. Glad it worked out for you!

Barry said...

What? You aren't famous? And here I thought I was visiting a celbreties blog...

"I am so having this baby." No way you will forget that - your mom made a great decision ;)

m.a. said...

Please make this documentary, I would so watch it.

Sunfish said...

I'll bet it was more like a surprise. So, will you be using the Phil Collins or the Tupac version of the song, "Against All Odds," in your soundtrack?

Huevos McGringo said...

your father looks like donna's dad from that 70s show.

mysterygirl! said...

That's a beautiful story. You commemorate a new stage of your parents' life! That's pretty romantic and special.

Dan said...

My mom had my younger sister (10 years my junior) when she was 38. To this day, every time she tells the story of finding out she was pregnant she refers to it as "a bit of a surprise," which I invariably find hilarious. And then she reminds me that when she was going to give the news to me she said, "I have something exciting to tell you," and I replied, "Are we getting a new car?"

Heather B said...

What a great story, all I know about my birth is my mom was there and so was a hospital ... ta-da!

Unknown said...

Wowo I am sooo impressed with a older woman having a baby. My salutes to you and you mommy.

Steph said...

I'm so glad she so had that baby!!
~ From a fellow "afterthought!!" :)