THEN
AND NOW
(A
letter to my great nephew/wife upon the birth of their first child)
World
War II, AIDS and Pandemic 2020
Joyce
Strickland Collins weighed 90 pounds when she discovered she was pregnant with
twins. By her sixth month with two large fetuses in her belly she had taken to
a chair.
The
country had been within a long world war and there were shortages of food and
medical supplies everywhere. Luckily Joyce had married a man with a lot of wits
and he was able to barter the necessary food and medical supplies for her
pregnancy. Rarely available ex-ray film (which I still have) confirmed two very
large boy beings in her belly. The doctors predicted that there would not be a
natural birth and a dangerous at the time caesarian surgery would be
necessary.
The
week of the surgery America had dropped the largest bomb in history on Japan to
stop the war. Hundreds of thousands were killed that day on top of all those
killed in the war. It was wonderful to be bringing new life into the world
amongst so much death. The surgeon pulled out Phillip Elton first at nine
pounds, followed by William Ogden at 10 pounds! Almost twenty pounds of babies
in an originally 90-pound body!
William
Ogden II, my great nephew, you have those strong hardy genes within you and I
am so honored you being named after ‘my other half.’
Now
here you and your beautiful wife are within your first pregnancy during one of
the most pervasive global pandemics in history. It seems we Collins like to
bring babies into the world during challenging times! While the isolation of
your experience is extreme, I am intending we shall all come out of this just
like the end of WW2 (AIDS still has no cure) and create a stronger, more loving
world.
I
personally know something of this type of isolation having survived the AIDS
pandemic while working in New York City, London, Paris and San Francisco as the
virus raged (many of my closest friends died before we knew how or why) The
events that don’t kill us surely make us more conscious and wiser.
Be in
peace and gratitude and know while many you love cannot be near you at your
special time, there is deep love and compassion being sent your way…
Much
Love, Great Uncle Phillip
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