BENJAMIN

When we finally were expecting another baby we were very excited, especially Papa. We couldn't afford medical care at this time but I knew what to expect because I had experienced so many pregnancies. A good friend, Nancy Hugo, that lived near us in Provo, was a nurse and often encouraged me to get a doctor but understood that we had only bits of money to live on.  She occasionally asked me all the 'nurse' questions and all went well until the 6th month.  I became cold.  We didn't know why and although I felt otherwise fine I could sit on the porch in the summer sun wrapped in a quilt and feel cold.  Eventually I felt ill and one day threw up.  I NEVER throw up! We knew a doctor was needed.

 At the emergency room we were told that the doctor on call had an emergency and we would have a long wait while the doctor called to fill in caught up. Dr. Nicols happened to be an Obstetrician. He wanted to admit me and when we asked if there was any other way he said, "sure - go to the morgue."  So it was that I spent some time in the hospital.  I had kidney failure that necessitated IV antibiotics and bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. Ira Jeshua Absolon Ames arrived when expected December 13th, 1982.

quarter photo booth - or was it 50 cents? picture for grandparents

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He appeared to be a healthy heavy baby boy in every way when delivered. He felt like a brick - heavy and solid. He was my fat, short, heavy baby - only 20 1/2 " long and 8lbs 4 oz. A short time later he turned blue and was on life support.  His name was a point of discussion from the time we married.  A few days after he came home from the hospital David emerged from putting him to sleep in the bedroom and said that as he had played with him it was as if a voice said in his mind, "My name is Benjamin".  That afternoon Papa went to the courthouse and amended his name to Benjamin Ira Jeshua Absolon Ames.

So began the saga of life and death that became a routine over the years.  We celebrated each milestone and regularly accepted that only Heavenly Father can give and sustain life.

His first trip was to be introduced to his Forsyth cousins at Aunt Bonnie's wedding when he was only a few weeks old.

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Despite all odds he not only lived but slowly grew, learned and participated fully in life. This picture is taken in Provo in the spring of 1983. 
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Below is a picture of Faline Shaw (1st cousin) and Benjamin clambering on David on a Sunday afternoon after church. He 'watched' the kids this way (dozing in the sun from the large windows at his parents in Grand Prairie) many a Sunday while dinner was being fixed.  And look at the twinkle in that baby's eye - that is not just sunshine.  This little guy could make his sister look like an angel! Faline and Benjamin would struggle and climb until they flopped over onto one side of Papa and then turn around and go the other way, over and over - it was one of their very own special games - that and climbing stairs!