Charles Joshua Dale Martin

Truth be told, I didn't want another child.  I couldn't imagine trying to give my love to another child. I was set on just having Spencer in our family.  But Dena was set on having another child.  She had come from a large family and knew that she wanted to have another child.  This left little doubt that we were going to have another member of our family.

So on March 21, 1994, Joshy made his entrance into our world.  And, just like his running today, when he decided to come, he came very fast.  Dena had labor pains for about one month, and on March 21st, she woke me up early to say that she was confident this was the day.  However, this was the third or fourth time that she had felt this way, and I was very slow to get out of bed.  I thought we had another false alarm.  When Dena started to make her way down the stairs declaring that she was leaving without me, I knew I needed to get moving, and fast.

Thankfully, we were literally five minutes from the hospital.  When we arrived, I parked at the front door, left the car running, and got attention for Dena asap.  I told her I would be there as soon as I parked the car.  When I ran back into the hospital, I was rushed to her room.  The attending nurse started barking orders to me saying that the baby was on his way and that we didn't have time for the doctor to make it to the hospital.  Needless to say, panic hit me immediately as I started to provide assistance to the nurse.

I wasn't panicked for long though.  Within five minutes, Dena and I had a healthy baby boy.  Any doubt that I had initially about having another addition to our family totally evaporated as I held Joshy in my arms.  His hair was blonde, his cry was loud, his eyes were blood shot red (from coming through the birth canal so quickly), and I couldn't imagine a more perfect baby to join our family.

Seventeen years later, I still am thankful for my wife's persistence and can't imagine my life without Joshy in our family.

Happy Birthday! I love you boy!