The Caboose

It was a regular comment where I grew up that the last child born to a couple was called "the caboose." My fourth child was just that. But she will be 35 in July, and I feel a little old. She was, as all my children were, a surprise, as her mother and I didn't have the sense to plan a family. Also, the things that are discussed openly now simply weren't discussed back then. So, approaching 32 years of age, I learned I was to be a father again. And there was no thought of anything but bringing this child into the world.

I learned that my fourth child was a girl only when she was born. Again, at that time, couples simply didn't find out until until the baby arrived. I was waiting in the wee hours of the morning when a nurse came out with this beautiful newborn and said she was sorry, it's a girl. And I said that was fine. I suppose she thought because I had 2 girls and 1 boy that I had wanted another son. In truth, it didn't matter to me. She was absolutely beautiful even before she was cleaned up. She was born 17 days shy of my one year anniversary in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Part of the joy I felt came from the fact that I was going to get a chance to be a sober father, something my three other children hadn't enjoyed in their early years. She never saw me drinking or drunk. For the first 7 1/2 years of her life, I did a pretty good job overall. She attended a private Episcopal kindergarten, then school. She was an open, laughing, happy child whom I took with me everywhere I could, even to the grocery store. Then came the divorce, but that's another story.

My beautiful daughter later graduated from high school with honors, then graduated from university Magna Cum Laude. She has completed almost all requirements for an M. A. degree, and she has been a teacher both in the United States and in Jordan. While she was working her way through university, she met a man from Amman, Jordan, who had come here as a student. They were both working at a barbeque joint in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a Palestianian, one of many whose family was forced off their land by the Israelis many years ago. He and my daughter fell in love and married.

My son-in-law is a handsome and intelligent man who is a good husband, provider, and father, and who, with my daughter, has brought into this world four of the most beautiful children I've ever seen who love their "Baba." Some years ago, my son-in-law decided to return sincerely to the religion he was born into, Islam. He quit working in an establishment that sold alcohol and went to work at the local mosque. He later became a successful automobile dealer, which work he continues in Jordan. And he continues to be a good husband, provider, and father.

On her own, my daughter converted to Islam and is today a person whose life is guided by the precepts of her religion. Out of the home, she dresses in traditional Muslim clothing for women. But thank God her beautiful face is still uncovered for all to see. I would love to post a picture of her taken in a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles when I was hospitalized near death. But obviously, for privacy's sake, I can't do that. At present, she lives in Amman, Jordan with her family, and I miss her.

She's visiting in Birmingham now, and I plan to go down as soon as I can. She has two small children whom I've never met, and they need to meet their "Giddo" but not nearly as much as I need to meet them. Parts of my life have been absolutely wonderful, and I've just written about one of them.