97M 36. The ‘Surprise’ Birth

In the winter of 1940, Margurita and Alphy were expecting their third child. On January 13th, the night was very cold, and the moon was full. Margurita told Alphy it was ‘time’. He put on his coat, cap and boots and went to get Meme. When he and the midwife arrived, Margurita was in heavy labor. Shortly afterwards, Margurita gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The baby was very

tiny, but wiry.

After the birth, Margurita still felt her body contracting violently. Memé told her, “It must be the afterbirth.” Margurita then heard Meme exclaim in surprise “No, it’s another baby.” The second baby was also a girl, as tiny and beautiful as the first.

Alphy and Margurita looked at each other in disbelief. They had a set of twin daughters. Margurita thought, “They are beautiful.” Then she had a second thought, “There isn’t even enough clothes for one baby. How are we going to manage?” Margurita and Alphy knew they would manage somehow, and they counted their blessings that

the babies were healthy.

In the weeks that followed, the couple would receive baby clothes from Josephine, Alphy’s sister, and Laurette, Alphy’s sister-in-

law.

Alphy and Margurita were not sure what to name the twins. Alphy’s brother, Edmond had requested that one of the girls be named Velda (Edmond had a fiance’ named Velda who had died of tuberculosis before they had a chance to marry). And so it was- one of the twins was named Velda and the other named Ida.

Velda would grow up to be a L.N.A. (licensed nursing assistant). She had a nurturing personality and leadership qualities. Velda had hazel eyes, and brown hair. She had a teardrop-shaped face and high cheek bones. Her most striking feature was her

beautiful complexion; soft, silky skin.

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