The year is 1969 and its a woman's dream to get married and have children. Life was carefree. Live was good.

 

For one woman, she had a one and a half year old and another one on the way, life was where it should be for her.

 

With her husband at work, and she is home with the children, nothing could possibly go wrong.

 

Until one day, when she least expects it, tragedy struck and there was a knock at her door. Two men were standing there telling her the worst news any wife does not want to her. The men told her that her husband has just died on the job today.

 

With tears filling her eyes and sadness, her life had been turned around and upside down. She had to take care of things totally different. All that excluded her newly married husband of only a few years at the most.

 

With the funeral now out of the way and trying to get back to normal, leaves were falling and cold weather was starting to hit. October, almost November, was here and something else was about to go wrong!

 

Her contractions had already started and she had 8 weeks to go!

 

The doctors said that because of the contractions had already started, the baby had to come out. There was nothing they could do to stop it.

 

Back in those days, medicine was limited and not much knowledge was known like we do today.

 

Therefore, there was one option that was never used before and to the doctors, it was brand new to them. It was a warming machine. A machine that would hopefully keep her baby alive. It's called an incubator.

 

While her baby was in there, living and breathing, they were not very hopeful that her baby would even survive!

 

Remember this is 1969!

 

Devastated, she brought a pastor to read a few phrases from the Bible and draw a cross on her head to pray for her continued existence on this Earth.

 

Two months had gone by with her baby still breathing and trying to stay alive! Doctors were grateful that she survived and now it was time to take her home!

 

She was a miracle that almost wasn't!

 

You see, my real dad died 25 days before I was born. I was sure that stress had a lot to do with my early arrival. He died while trying to screw off the cap of the cement truck. Even more disturbing, is the truck that he used should not have been put in service! Something was wrong with it!

 

Because of my early arrival, I was the first baby to be put in an incubator at St. Claire Hospital in Monroe WI! I am very thankful for that machine that kept me alive for those two months. Something good had to happen out of the ordeal that she had just been put through most recently.

 

I was so tiny, that I could be put in a shoe box! I was born 2 lbs, 12 oz.

 

I was 2 months early and was supposed to be born around Christmas, but I wasn't. I guess I didn't want to be born around winter. And I am glad I'm not because I do not like winter.

 

Married with two beautiful children myself, I too an living the American Dream.

Joy Hammer.