Today I took apart a crib.
It’s not a noteworthy event unless you have some context; perhaps not even then. Our son has graduated to his “big boy” bed. We had a period of overlap where both the crib and his bed were in his room, and he could have the choice of sleeping in either one. With some urging, the new bed is now the preferred one, so it makes little sense to have both in his room.
I originally wrote this on Facebook.
Amelia was born on August 3, 2012 at 11:33am at Kaiser Oakland. She was premature at 27 weeks. We were scared that she wouldn’t be alive, but she came out red, wriggly, and squawking – a perfect little person but just very, very tiny at 2 lbs 1 oz.
Despite her serious condition, she fought to stay with us. The NICU staff commented on how she was “feisty”. She was breathing on her own, even with her immature lungs. She was moving, grabbing fingers, kicking, crying a bit, and even opened her eyes to look at us. We were hopeful. However, on Saturday night, we were rushed to the NICU. Amelia had developed bleeding in her lungs, and the staff were trying to stabilize her. They did, and her heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation numbers were looking good. But the trauma was too much for her, and she began to worsen. She passed at 3:30am on August 5, with Gabrielle holding her, while we kissed her, touched her and said goodbye.
I wrote this in March of 2010. G passed not too much later that year, late May or early June. I don’t remember, I suck. We weren’t especially close, certainly not as close as my friend and he were, as well as many others. But he was a great mentor and I will always remember logging hours with him. I last flew with him in November of 2009.
There’s a mantra among pilots that you learn from day one, and that is to “fly the plane”. Those three words are often repeated throughout your career as a pilot, whether you are a recreational pilot or a commercial airline pilot. To many people this may seem like an obvious or trite statement. Of course you fly the plane! What the fuck else are you doing up in the air in that aluminum contraption?
