| Show Marine CpL Michael Edwards 24 change the baby was going through When he heard my voice over the telephone — from what Wendy would tell me — his face would be totally excited He would giggle and laugh I returned on March 13 and finally saw him at around 10 at night It’s hard to put into words how I felt How could this baby that was stuck in my wife’s belly for so long become with Michael Edwards Jr 9'h months Stationed at Camp Pendleton Oceanside Calif HTten I was sent over to the Gulf on Aug 18 my wife Wendy was almost nine months pregnant It was frustrating to leave because we had gone through all the Lamaze classes together we had everything planned — and then last minute this thing came up It was about 1 1 am when I got the message that Wendy had had a baby boy I was on duty in Bahrain I felt extremely excited It was like a high as if I had gotten drunk for six or eight hours straight I was just so totally happy But at the same time I this big old kid? He’s huge He is going to be a big football player I’m serious Now he’s about 19 pounds and about 28 inches long And all of a sudden there’s this other life in your family You have to become less independent All of a sudnd den you have to remember that you’ve got a third party to think of Before your priorities are “me me me" Now you have to look out for the welfare of your child — clothing food housing everything Before if I wanted to walk into the house and drink a beer I’d walk in and drink a was so sad because I couldn’t be there It was almost seven months before I got home Luckily being in communications I was able to make telephone calls We had phone bills that were atrocious My wife sent me pictures constantly so I could see every beer Now I have to think “Maybe my son has to go to the doctor" Now it’s not just what I like to do or what my wife and I like to do that matters I love it when he laughs and gets really happy He’ll sit there and giggle and giggle He makes little facial expressions Every day you can tell something new that’s changed Just in the time that I’ve been home his hair has doubled and he already has started pushing himself on a walker He’s so young that just playing with him is basically the only thing you can do now We give him these little children's cookies we take him everywhere we buy him toys and stuff When he gets a few months older I want to take him to baseball games I never really had a father because my real dad left when I was 2 and I’ve had two stepfathers I want to make sure my son grows up in a complete family with grandparents and all that I’ll probably spoil him to death Army Sgt Oscar Russell 34 with Jessica Stormy 5 months Stationed at Fort Bliss El Paso I was on guard duty in the Saudi desert one early morning in January up by the border with Kuwait when I saw my first sergeant approaching my tank I started thinking “What did I do wrong this time? What would bring the first sergeant walking all the way up here?” I was really expecting a but when he came up he extended his hand and said “Congratulations!” and handed me the Red Cross message announcing the birth of my baby girl Jessica The message said: “Serviccmcmber wife and baby Servicemember wife doing fine states baby looks like servicemember Baby has lots of hair” I yelled so loud I think they heard me in Kuwait When I got off duty I borrowed my first sergeant’s vehicle and drove to the Red Cross five miles away and called the hospital My wife’s voice sounded really great I hadn’t heard it in ages She told me my older daughter Jennifer and her girlfriend were butt-chewin- g b walking around the neighborhood cigars passing out pink bubble-guMy baby’s name is Jessica Stormy Russell And it has nothing to do with Operation Desert Storm My other daughter’s name is Jennifer Windy Russell When we were having our second child — this was before August — we were trying to figure out a name We knew it was going to be a m Continued on Page 6 Top photograph by Amy Etra Outline bottom photograph by Steven Pumphrey n n n USA WEEKEND June 14-- 1991 5 |
