My Surprise School Reunion!

Note to "Life On The Beach" regulars - Today's entry is a bit of a departure from my normal fare. Instead of bitching about how the arrival of President Obama has done nothing so far to promote bipartisanship (it hasn't), or discussing the Postal Service's desire to go to five-day-a week delivery (a good idea), today I present an essay. It's part of a newly-launched writing project I'm doing with my high school friends on Facebook. Enjoy!



The date was September 8, 1993. I was at a pretty good place in life. I was the morning drive news reporter at WMAL and living in Silver Spring with my wife of three years, Robin. Robin and I had been living in our brand-new townhouse behind Leisure World for just under a year, and we were looking forward to the birth of our first child, who was due sometime around Thanksgiving. We were scheduled, in fact, to start Lamaze classes the following week.

Robin had a pretty rough day at work - not so much because of her job, per se, but because she just didn't feel good. Pregnancy did not agree with my wife. She never did quite get rid of her morning sickness, and she had been diagnosed with pregancy-onset diabetes, which meant she had to test her blood several times a day. Mama wasn't a happy mama! When Robin got home, she complained of feeling like she had to go to the bathroom, but that wasn't it. A call to the obstatrician confirmed that my seven-month-pregnant wife was likely in labor.

We took a drive over to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital to get Robin checked out, under the assumption that they would stop the labor and send her back home. But by the time we got to Shady Grove, it was too late to stop the baby. He or she was coming!

My brave wife allowed herself about 30 seconds of grief before she set her mind to the next task at hand - undergoing natural childbirth without a minute of training for it, We were taken to a private delivery room to await the unknown.

A couple of minutes later, a nurse came in, and introduced herself - "Hello, my name is Sue". I took one look at her, and smiled. "Susan Berenter! It's been a long time!" I had gone to school with Sue Berenter all the way from Kindergarten at Cresthaven through graduation at Springbrook. We had never been close friends, but you don't share schools with someone for 13 years without having at least some sort of bond.

As Sue and I quickly caught up on old times - what I was doing for a living, how long she'd been a nurse, etc., we heard a groan. Oh yes... Robin.

I introduced Sue to my wife, and Sue snapped instantly into professional mode. She did a great job of calming mother and father down, and giving us the five-cent Lamase "pant, pant, blow" course in about ten minutes. Then she went about doing what nurses do before a woman gives birth... Setting up warming trays and machines that go "BING" and all of that other good stuff - all the while encouraging Robin and keeping her calm.

I don't know if every childbirth goes like this, but it did for both of our kids. The nurse does everything until it's time for the Mom to push. Then - and only then - the doctor comes in and basically catches the baby. It was great having Sue as our delivery nurse, even if the reunion was in front of my wife's gaping ... uh, well... you know. It was comforting to me to have a familiar face in the room to help us in a situation we had not expected. And it was comforting to Robin to have someone who was so good at what she did. Sue was a real pro!

Bradley Philip Matthews was born at 1:49am on September 9, 1993 - two months premature, but at 4 pounds, 9 ounces and 18 inches in length, still quite big for his gestational age. Brad was in the hospital for two weeks and had to wear a breathing monitor for six months, but beyond that, he was a real trooper! And we have Susan Berenter to thank for that!

Thanks, Sue - Wherever you are!

The List

I have been a big fan of Facebook since I first signed onto it last spring. It is an incredible social media tool that honestly, I don't think anyone could have fathomed even 6 or 7 years ago... By signing up and using the Facebook search engine, you can find virtually every person you've ever known - as long as they've signed up as well.

I would imagine Facebook has different uses and meanings for different ages. My son and his friends mostly use their FB pages to complain about school or to share stupid pictures they've taken on their cell phones. For my generation - or at least my own social circle, it has become an almost never-ending elementary school-through-college reunion... and the party never stops because new "old friends" are constantly finding the party and signing up! Suffice it to say that if you want to forget your past, DON'T sign up for Facebook!

The hottest latest thing on Facebook that is spreading like wildfire is what is known as the "25 Random Things About Me" list. Users are encouraged - by their own friends - to come up with a list of 25 random things about themselves and to post it to Facebook for all the world to see. Interestingly, you might be surprised how reflectful and honest people are about their own lives.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that my life is a relatively open book, so I'm going to post my list here. Enjoy!

1. I dated my wife off and on (mostly off) for 8 years before she finally took me seriously. I had previously been guilty of not being Jewish, but when Robin got burned badly by a Jewish boyfriend, my future mother-in-law told her she'd rather see her happy with me than unhappy with someone Jewish. 19 years of marriage later, the rest is history.

2. I almost always have a song bouncing around in my head.

3. My favorite part-time job of all time - department store Santa! Syracuse, New York - Xmas, 1981

4. I always split Aces and Eights. Always.

5. Both of my sons have a mild form of autism, called Aspergers Syndrome. That only makes them more interesting people - the older one is a brainiac, and the younger one takes after Dad... He's a ham!

6. I have three Tivos - Excessive? Yes. But it also makes for a peaceful home.

7. My job was eliminated last March, after 25 years with one company.

8. If I had not lost my job, I never would have started a blog, which is one of the most cathartic things I've ever done. I never would have learned how to build my own website. (I now have two of them), and I would never have taken the time to join Facebook.

9. I have been to Walt Disney World 52 times, and to Disneyland at least 20 times.

10. I would like to find a choir to join.

11. I wish I had the attention span I had 20 years ago.

12. I tend to ignore problems and hope they go away, but they never do, dammit!

13. I wish people didn't get so angry at each other - or judge each other - over politics.

14. I have the hots for Kate Winslet. And my wife says she's OK with that. And that makes me love my wife even more.

15. In a similar vein, I have always maintained that if Robert Redford wanted to bed my wife and give us two million dollars like he did to Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson in "Indecent Proposal", I'd happily oblige - and so would she!

16. I wish I was smarter about investing money.

17. I know "Gopher" from "The Love Boat" on a first-name basis. Now THAT'S random!

18. I once accepted a news award on a nationally-televised broadcast.

19. I share a birthday (August 9) with Richard Nixon's resignation, the atom bomb drop on Nagasaki and the second set of Manson murders!

20. My mother died when I was a junior in high school. If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone to see a shrink.

21. I fear that the radio industry, which is the only industry I've ever worked in and ever WANTED to work in, is dead.

22. My first on-air "radio" job was hosting "On Key", a show that Walter Gottlieb and I did over the P.A. system in 9th grade at Key Jr. High School.

23. My boyhood heroes were Elliot and Woodside, the morning team on WPGC. By the time I made it to WMAL, they were working at Q107, and they were among the very first people I met!

24. I am world renowned for my chili recipe... Or at least renowned among my friends.

25. For a guy my size, I can't hold my liquor worth a damn. Two beers, and I'm toast.