Our son John turned twenty-two last Sunday. And as we were driving to church with him and our girls, we were reminiscing about the day he was born. John is our firstborn, and we have twin fifteen-year old girls too.
As I thought back on that day and our expectancy of it, I remembered I used to sing to my wife's tummy, nearly every night. I wanted him to get used to the sound of my voice, and it was such a joyful time and a way for me to connect with him before he was born.
For some reason, lost in the mists of time, I sang The Beverly Hillbillies theme song to him. Perhaps, I chose it because the song is basically a story, or because the Clampetts arrive in Beverly Hills in an old car, and I am an old-car guy. The song is funny and fits the range of my voice as well. Years before, Liz and I even went to a Halloween party, dressed as Uncle Jed and Elly May. Everyone knew who we were the moment they saw us.
The Beverly Hillbillies spawned Petticoat Junction and Green Acres after that, and I enjoyed watching those show too.
Back to the night John was born. After they placed him in the bassinet, in the nursery, the nurses let me in to be with him. And what an amazing experience, as many of you know, to stand there with your firstborn, and all the subsequent ones too.
John was crying, and I tried to comfort him as best I could, but he kept crying as a newborn baby will do. So out of the blue, I started singing The Beverly Hillbillies theme song, and he stopped crying. When I stopped singing, he started crying again. So, I sang it again, and he stopped crying.
Since he heard the song and my voice before, I can only think that it soothed him, and he fell asleep. So, if you feel like crying after reading this, just give me a call, and I will sing it to you too.
It worked for us and remains a wonderful memory of my first moments with my boy and turning the corner into parenthood.
