The LOVE OF MY LIFE
My family is so important to me! I met my husband in February of 1984 while attending the same church. We started dating on the 29th of March and married on the 25th of August of that same year. Everyone says, “Oh, love at first site!” No, I could not stand him! Daddy liked him, not me! I only went out with him because I had no other way to go to a church meeting that I really wanted to go to. He asked me to go to the church meeting that night and I was delighted to go!!! Then he asked me out the next night and of course I had a good excuse, I was keeping the deacons children. So he went to the next night, Saturday. I told him I could not go, but he said he would come to the house anyway! Sure enough he did! He just would not take no for an answer and well the rest is history! He is my Prince! I can’t imagine my life without him. He has been through many ups and downs with me and has remained by my side. Always so supportive of anything I wanted to do. I wish everyone could have a spouse like I have in Mike. I am truly a blessed woman. He took me from the pits of hell and gave me paradise! I never knew what love was until Mike.
We decided to start a family and that became very hard for me. I had 6 miscarriages, three of which were twins. Bradley was a twin, but I miscarried one during the 2nd month. I was scheduled for a hysterectomy when the doctor came in and said he could not do it because I was pregnant. I was furious at him. I knew there was NO WAY that I was pregnant, I had not left the hospital! Sure enough I was. I prayed that God would take the child before I could feel movement. He didn’t! So then I changed my prayer and begged that I be allowed to have this precious child. The doctors tried to get me to abort him because it was such a high risk pregnancy, but there was no way I could do that! We had no insurance so it was hard to find a doctor that would see me. I remember praying over the phone book and I opened it up to Dr. Alan Gorrell. I called the office, explained the situation and the lady said you will need to talk with the doctor, but that he normally did not take high risk patients. He called me back within the hour and asked if I could come to his office. I explained the financial situation to him and he said that was not important now, the baby was. So off to the doctor I went. The first thing he did was pray for me and the baby. Over the course of months we were told terrible news, that they suspected the baby would be mental and the ultra sounds showed that the baby only had stubbed arms and legs. Still I prayed for God to allow me to have this child. I knew that I could care for it. One week before Bradley was born I had an ultrasound and still the child had no arms or legs. His arms were down to the elbow and his legs stopped at the knees. At that time his estimated birth weight was only three pounds. I had been in and out of the hospital for nearly seven months with this child and I was not about to give up on it. We never knew the sex of the child, but I always said it was going to be a girl. I only had girl items in the nursery! Well, I got up on New Year’s Eve and I felt wonderful, but I had the strangest feeling that the baby was coming. I didn’t hurt at all though. I called the doctor and he said, “Becky, you are not going to get that tax deduction this year!” He told me to come on and be checked just in case. I knew that I had to have a C-Section because there was not enough amniotic fluid for the baby to turn in. I went in and was already dilated over 3 centimeters. He told me to go straight to the hospital and to not stop anywhere else. Well, when I got to the hospital I stopped at the pay phone and called my dad and Mike and then I went upstairs to Labor and Delivery. The baby was born at 1:03. They told me it was a boy and he was sure screaming! They wrapped him in a blanket and laid him on my chest and he stopped crying instantly! Then all of a sudden off they went with him. The doctor discovered that I had a double uterus and that is why I was having the miscarriages. I had started to hemorrhage and the doctor asked Mike to leave and not to look back. I could feel myself slipping away. I watched Mike walk to the door and before opening it he looked back at me so sad and said I LOVE YOU! I don’t remember much more until the doctor walked into my room asking for Mike. I told him that Mike had gone home to clean up and would be back in a few. He said he would come back when there was someone with me. That scared me so I started to cry and told him that I could handle anything that he had to tell me about my baby. I tried to get up, but couldn’t. I just knew that he had died. Finally, the doctor came over and sat on the side of my bed and took my hand. Tears rolling down his face he told me that everything was going to be okay. I just knew that my baby had died. I finally got it out and asked him and he said such sweet words to me. He said, “Honey, you have the ONLY healthy baby out there! He is perfect! No jaundice, no birthmarks, he is perfect!” Oh, I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing for just one week before this child had partial limbs. I asked him if he was sure and he just sat there crying with me. He said, “What joy it is to know that God is still in the miracle making business!” Now, my son is 18, a senior is High School. You could not ask for a better child! He has never given us any trouble at all. I would have had a house full of Bradley’s! Mike and I are so proud of Bradley and of all of his accomplishments. I know God has great plans for this young man! He will always be my baby boy though!
