Happy Birthday Becky

Today is my daughter Becky's birthday. Forgive me for being more personal than usual today. Becky's birthday is not only a family occasion it is also somewhat of a landmark for us at church. A few of you will remember our first days at First Baptist in the summer of 1985. We arrived on the June 23 to begin our tour of duty. I was a wavy haired young man and Lori was 8 3/4 months pregnant with our first child.

I preached my last sermon at the Cross Mills Baptist Church in Charlestown, Rhode Island the week before. It was Father's Day and I talked about a father's love and the extreme measures that are often taken because of this special relationship. I also bid them good-bye. Lori was finishing up two years as a staff pharmacist at the Fatima Unit of the Rhode Island Hospital. I was ready to take on a full time congregation while she took time to raise our children.

We celebrated my 27th birthday and moved into the parsonage during the week of June 16th. We left a bed and a few furnishings at our apartment in Rhode Island and it was our intention to go back there a few days before Lori was due. We were so excited to be beginning a new chapter in our lives.

That first Sunday was wonderful. 93 people came out to greet us in worship. We took the rest of the week to settle into the new house and to prepare the nursery. The folks at the church had painted all the rooms except that one. We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl and they left it up to us. 10 days later we would find out and I raced home to paint the nursery pink.

On the last Sunday of June we gathered for worship and then Lori and I headed back to West Warwick to await the special day. I had Monday off. On Tuesday I drove back to Norwich and worked in the office a little while putting books away and working on the July newsletter. After lunch I stopped in to visit Elmer and Gladys Johnson, two of our older members. Gladys was a talker and I spent three and a half hours there. We talked about the church, the town and all about babies. By the time I left there it was 4:30 p.m. and I decided to head back to Rhode Island.

Lori and I went to the Warwick Mall and had dinner. While we were walking around, she suddenly bent over in pain. The first contraction had come. A few hours later we were making our trip to the hospital. On the morning of July 3, 1985 Rebecca Jane Lord was welcomed into the world. In a year of memorable events, it was the best day of my life.

I remember driving down Route 95 through Providence thinking I was living a dream. I went back to the apartment and packed up the last of our stuff and brought it all back to Norwich. Our new life was ready to begin.

Two days later I brought Lori and Rebecca home to Norwich for good. As we celebrate Becky's birthday today I can't help but think of her and our coming to Norwich in the same happy memory. She is twenty four years old today and she helps us put our time in Norwich in perspective. We have been here a lifetime and it has been a good one.

Cal