December 31, 1975

Dona and I had rented (yes rented because we were too poor to own one) a color TV so we could watch the Tournament of Roses parade on News Year Day (well and maybe to watch the Rose Bowl football game...pre ESPN if you can imagine such a time). Around 10:30 PM Dona started to have some pains. Because this was her first, I didn't think that she could possibly know for sure. However, just to be on the safe side, we went to the emergency room of the Utah Valley Hospital in Provo to check it out. It was determined that she was indeed in labor so they checked her in and placed her in one of the many labor rooms (this is Utah Valley and they need many labor rooms). I initially had hopes that maybe we could have the New Years baby but there must have been 13 or 14 babies delivered between midnight and 7:00 AM when our little baby girl was delivered. In those days we had no idea of the baby's gender before birth so although we had a name for a boy...we really weren't prepared for a girl. Emily was a name I had liked and I thought that if we added Anne her initials would be EAR and if eventually married a Prusso the initials would be EARP. I have always been a fan of the wild west and Wyatt Earp has always been a favorite character from that era. The rest is history. Emily Anne has grown to be a lovely women, wife, and mother. I sold her to her husband (Dustin) for a pick up truck. At the time, I thought it was a great deal but now after seeing their children I believe we should re-negotiate for something of more value. The negotiations on that will begin soon although I suppose I'd settle for being the ball boy at another Stanford football game.