Meeting K-Bob

In 1995, Bink, Jujubi, and I each agreed to attend our fifth reunion at Homecoming if the other two would go. Jujubi and I drove up from Portland and met Bink on campus. It was early November, and Mrs. P had just given birth to K-Bob. We went to the Ps' house to say hello and meet the baby, since they lived nearby.


K-Bob's birth had been difficult and drawn-out, with the OB finally coaxing K-Bob out with a pair of forceps around his head. Mrs. P was sitting in a rocking chair, looking as exhausted as I'd ever seen her. Mr. P stood by the baby wrapped in a light blanket - as in a blanket filled with lights - because the struggle of his arrival had given him jaundice. He glowed in the light blanket, which Mrs. P said made him look like an alien. He was a really funny-looking baby, with green-yellow skin and a head that was kind of flattened on the sides. He was almost the first baby I'd ever seen and certainly the first I'd seen that new, and I found his non-standard looks totally charming.


I sat on the floor under the picture window in the living room and Mr. P brought K-Bob to me, wrapped in a regular non-glowing blanket. I held this tiny child and blinked away tears. I nuzzled his skull (which I still like to do to babies) and said, "Welcome to the world, little one!" Then I whispered, "I will be your best adult friend."