Lourdes and I lived in married student housing at the
University of Miami. We had our first
child while living there, Cristina. It
was a wonderful apartment. The apartment
had no air conditioning, so we had to leave the windows open. It was very warm. It was termite infested. It was a wonderful place. The apartments were
built in 1926 or so, surrounded by a nice playground. Sometimes the swing sets had swings. That did not mean a thing. It was a wonderful apartment. Right across the playground, there lived a
trumpet player. Every afternoon you
would hear the trumpet player playing beautifully, practicing. Every time I hear a trumpet playing a solo,
I am reminded of playing with Cristina in the playground with no swings. I
loved the place, not only because it was our first home as a family but due to
many other attributes including my fellow students who also lived in the complex,
and it was cheap. Oh, and we were right
across from the Howard Johnson’s on US1 across from the UM. From our bedroom, I could see inside the
lobby of the Howard Johnson’s.
In many ways those were difficult days. Lourdes had finished medical school. She was in residency at Mount Sinai Medical
Center. Cristina was still very young,
she was still in her crib asleep in the same bedroom we slept.
It was a great place to walk with Cristina once she was old
enough. Of course, a couple of times we
had to evacuate the building due to termites being so bad. They had to fumigate. Sometimes, Lourdes and I would walk with or carry Cristina from our
apartment to either Haagen Daz or Swensen’s or Howard Johnsons or Baskin
Robbins. The key was ice cream. We
frankly just wanted to tire Cristina out so she could sleep soundly. The ice
cream was a bonus for her… and me.
Lourdes was in pathology rotations at Mount Sinai Medical
Center. I was in a postdoctoral
appointment in the main campus. She was
going through a program at the Medical Examiners Office. In this program she had to visit crime scenes
with the coroner’s office. I had a more
flexible schedule.
On a typical day, at 2am after Cristina was asleep, Lourdes
would get a call via a beeper provided by the coroner’s office. I do not know why but it was usually at
2am. She would call the number. The conversation would be as follows. You will pick me up…usual place…ok see you
then. She had to visit a crime scene,
usually a murder or suicide. Lourdes would get dressed and leave the apartment at
2am. She would walk across the street to
the Howard Johnsons. This was the
arranged place.
The police was very considerate. They did not want a young
lady to drive by herself to what by definition was a crime prone area so they
would pick her up. She would sit in the
lobby of the Howard Johnsons, while I was pretending to sleep in our
bedroom. There was no air conditioning.
So, I could hear the police patrol car approach. From the bedroom I would keep my eye on
Lourdes. The other one I kept on
Cristina. I worried since my wife was alone at 2am waiting in the lobby of a
hotel in the middle of US 1. No
cellphones then. She would then stand in
the corner at the entrance of the Howard Johnsons and a marked police car would
approach. She would get into the
car. If Cristina would wake up, I would
try to get her to go to sleep once more. I would then go back to sleep. Since
we had no air conditioning you could hear the sound of traffic. It was a great apartment. If the termites were swarming, I would turn
one light on so they would go to the other room. Every other day the scene was repeated. My wife would leave the apartment at 2 am,
stand in the corner and be picked up by a marked police car. I would then try to get Cristina to fall
asleep again. This sometimes would take a long time and this was inconvenient
since I had to go to work myself.
I often wondered what my fellow students and neighbors
thought. Poor guy, wife leaves the
apartment at 2am, returns around 6am and he is totally oblivious to the
situation. And, not only that, she goes
to the same place and is picked up by the police at 2 am. That couple must not be very bright.
It was a wonderful place.
I would learn a lot during that time. Going to the lab in the morning, taking
Cristina to the sitter’s. Lourdes would
sometimes return later that morning, or go straight to the Medical Examiner’s
Office. After I took Cristina to the
sitter, which in many cases was Lela, I would go to the laboratory to learn all
about cobalt compounds. I was tired
before I got there. On the weekends,
Lourdes would take care of Cristina. I
would go to work trying to do my
research.
Lourdes and I probably learned the most important thing we
would ever learn during that time. We learned to be mom and dad.
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