Michael Lance White - Sept. 4, 1970

It was the hottest August on record - or so I felt - and Mike was due the first week in Sept. I had gone to the doctor on Sept. 3rd and he told me it would be at least a week or more before his birth. Actually, he said "before the birth". We didn't have ultra sounds in those days and never knew until the baby was born if it was a girl or boy. I had felt very strongly during my whole pregnancy that I was going to have a girl. An olive complected girl with a mass of black hair and brown eyes. I even thought I might name her Julie. I could even see her in my mind's eye. Anyway, on the 4th our dog, Snoopy, (also know as Stupid Dog) hurt himself and needed to go to the Vets. A very stressful situation. My stomach also wasn't working right, so I had taken pills to help with that. I began having cramps that afternoon, but assumed it was the pills working. It was Labor Day weekend and my doctor had told me he would be gone all weekend. Sid was doing car upholstery at that time and would do special jobs in our garage at night. He had a friend that needed his sand rail seats done that night. He had a big race to go to the next day. My neighbor stopped by and noticed my stomach cramps were 10 minutes apart. We decided to be safe that we should take Jim to his Uncle Vernon's and Aunt Willene's. They lived down town and we took the freeway to get to their house. On the way back one of Arizona's famous summer sandstorms hit and we had to pull over with zero visibility. I was still having regular cramps and getting real worried. We finally rushed me to the doctor who told me that it would be a least a couple of days. Back home - I rested on the couch while Sid rushed to get his job finished. At 10:00 pm I could wait no more, regardless of what the doctor had said. He took me to the hospital where they told him I would be in labor probably until noon the next day. I told him to leave and come back in the morning - which he did. At 3:30 am I decided - or Mike decided - it was time. The nurses called Sid, woke him up, and told him to get to the hospital. Almost an hour later he still wasn't there. They called him again, and he had fallen asleep. He got to the hospital just as they were taking me to the labor room. Fathers did not go in the labor room at that time, so he waited outside. I had told the doctor (not my regular doctor) I was having "Julie" and described her to him. When the baby was born, he started laughing. That is scary to hear just as you've "pop" your baby out. He told me that not only did I have a boy, I had a very fair, blond, blue eyed boy. He thought that was so funny he left for a few minutes and went out in the hall to tell Sid. In those days we stayed in the hospital for 3 days after we gave birth. It rained hard and heavy all that weekend and the night before I was due to come home, the canal broke by our house and flooded the whole neighborhood - every one's house but ours. Indian Bend Wash was a real wash then and there were no bridges across it when it flooded, and it was flooded. Sid borrowed a 4-wheel drive truck to come get me and Mike and bring us home. As for Mike's name - Sid liked the name "Michael" and he knew a sports figure and other people named "Lance" and so that was what he was called - Michael Lance. Happy 39th Birthday today, Mike!!