Zona

Fifteen years ago today on Zona Boy

December 10th, 1990. San Diego, California.

I got the call at work. The wife was going into labor. Fly down I-5 to Oceanside then to the hospital in San Diego. Emergency room. She's not dilated enough so the doctor tells us to walk around a while to see what happens.

Now let me paint the picture for you.

It's ten o'clock at night and I rushed home from work and did not have time to change or leave anything at the apartment. Mom is here so the other kids are fine. So here I am, all six foot one of me and all five foot nothing of her walking around a San Diego close-to-the-border hospital. I'm in uniform. U.S. Border Patrol uniform. Gun belt, radio, EVERYTHING. Yep, we got some looks. I joked about hand cuffing us together but the wife hit me and laughed at the same time. I must explain that my wife is Bolivian and therefore looks Hispanic and even though I'm half Mexican I look pretty white bread no crust.

The end of the story is that she didn't dilate. The labor pains ceased and we were sent home. BUT we would be back the next day and a healthy son was born. He's 15 tomorrow.