Fifty Years Ago
August 7, 2019 4:57 pm Leave your thoughts
On July Fourth 50 years ago my husband and I landed on the island of Papua New Guinea.
There was no parade, no waving of flags, and no fireworks- but we were pretty excited. Right from the start our lives were filled with drama. We were told in Australia that we had to be quarantined before we could fly to PNG because we had just been through Thailand.
“Did you come to die?”
At least that’s what we thought he said, because that’s how his Australian accent sounded to our ears. He actually said, “Did you com e today?”
“Didn’t you know there was an cholera epidemic in Thailand?” “No, we didn’t know.” While we were in quarantine and getting a cholera shot our flight to Port Moresby departed without us. Our baggage went to Tokyo. From that moment on our lives in Papua New Guinea brought us excitement and intrigue.
Today is my first born son’s 50th birthday.
A half century probably sounds old to many of you. Not to me. I gave birth to my first child when I was 31. We had just arrived in the island nation of Papua New Guinea a mere month before. Everyone wondered how the airlines had allowed me on the airplane with my big belly. Nobody had said a word. I was so full of dedication…and so stupid that I hadn’t said anything either.
We knew tiddly squat about PNG. Also I had never been in any hospital before. Now with strange languages swirling around me I landed in Lae hospital. He came breach and weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces. I remember how Edmund and I hugged and cried looking in wonder at this new baby.
I hear so much these days about the inconvenience and expenses of children, about abortion. No, no, no. For us it was glorious, pure joy, life changing. We fell in love with him immediately.
Years ago I learned an approach to theology that said, “Find the first mention of that key term in the Bible and you often get its definition.” The word “love” is first mentioned in Genesis 22:2 where it talks about Abraham’s love for his son Isaac. Thus we know that love is the relationship that a father has with his only son. Edmund and I knew that kind of love on August 7, 1969.
When I came back from PNG in 2005 I did not choose to live in my home state of New York. I chose Douglassville, PA because that was where Jonathan lived.