The Close Call

Have you ever had something so life changing happen but almost miss it? Well that was one of the most craziest moments of my life, but I’m getting ahead of myself. It was October, the blazing heat of the sun shined upon my family and I as we had a pool party in our backyard. Suddenly, my brother and his girlfriend said that they had a special announcement:They were having a baby! I was so excited because since I was the youngest among four children, I didn’t have any younger sisters or brothers to hang out with. Since I was only ten at the time, I was as happy as a child opening presents on Christmas morning. I was going to be an aunt and this life changing event head on.

It was a hot July evening when my life became an elevator. My mom and dad were discussing my birthday plans because we were going to Florida for a week.My brother suddenly comes in and says “ I don’t know how that will work because the baby’s due date is July 20th. When those words came out of his mouth, my heart almost burst through my chest. I was looking forward to that trip for months, but I didn’t want to miss my niece’s arrival. So my brother, his girlfriend and I went to the doctor to explain the dilemma. The doctor said that “ Due dates are only estimates, no one will know the exact date except the baby. Whenever it’s ready, it will come.” On the way home, I thought about the whole situation along with what the doctor said. I thought, “ What if we don’t go on the trip and wait for the baby’s arrival.”. The problem with that is that the baby might not come during that week and we would have stayed home for no reason. On the other hand, what if we went, but the baby decided to come and we missed it”. This was a family discussion that needed to happen.

When we arrived home, I called everyone in the living room for a family meeting. After what seemed like 8 hours, we finally came up with a decision: Everyone in my family would go except my brother and his girlfriend. It was finally the day that we went to Florida. We said our goodbyes and went off to the airport. The entire car ride, I wondered if we made a mistake. I eventually made up in my mind that I need to stop worrying and enjoy the trip. If I kept worrying, I wouldn’t enjoy myself.

A few days later, it was my birthday. The first few days were awesome. I even stopped worrying about the whole due date situation. We went to Universal and stayed there all day. It was 12:15 the next morning when we got the call that would change the entire dynamic of the trip. The moment I dreaded was finally here: my brother’s girlfriend went into labor. As soon as I heard, I was overcome with so much joy. We shoved everything in our bags and flew our car to the airport. Luckily, the plane came on time and we caught our flight. While we were on the plane, they were keeping us updated. A few hours later, we finally landed and we drove as fast as lightning to the hospital. We got there and asked the nurse where her room was. I was surprised that they even let me enter. After a while, she was born and everyone in the room was crying. When I got my chance to hold her, I should have followed my mind and stayed. I can always go to Florida for my birthday, but I can only experience her being born once. The main reason that I didn’t want to miss her arrival was because it was such a life changing event that changed my life forever. That day, I learned that family is more important than any trip or materialistic items. As I helped to take care of her growing up, it taught me things that I can use to care for my own kids in the future.