BY Dennis Morreau | June 10, 2020
That little guy in middle of the picture in the upper left was born about 3 ½ miles from that picture in the middle which, in case you don’t recognize it, is the U.S.S
Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The year was 1957, just 12 years after the war ended. The place was Tripler Army Hospital, a medical facility staffed to treat casualties of war, not complicated pregnancies. I weighed in at 11 pounds 9 ounces, and yes it was a difficult birth to say the least. Among other things my collar bone had to be broken in order to get me into this world after which the fun began. You may have heard of the various causes for children born with Cerebral Palsy and I certainly had many of them. The use of forceps around the base of the head, not enough oxygen in that I wasn’t breathing for quite a while followed by the use of 100% oxygen to keep me going. I am told the doctor came out three times to tell my father I had died only to be interrupted by a nurse rushing out to tell the doctor I had come back. To be clear, I wasn’t revived, I just came back. After the third time they had to lock my father in a room because he wanted somebody’s head. For my parents the news only got worse. I would probably die within a few weeks or months and even if I lived I would be severely disabled and mentally retarded. Their best bet would be to place me in a state run institution where I would receive palliative care until I passed.
That Still Small Voice 