The Beginning of the End

I had convinced Nate that it was time to add children to our family. We hadn't talked a lot about kids before we got married. We didn't rule out kids, but we were in no hurry which was fine since we had married at a young age. We eventually learned as with everything in life, we really weren't in control like we thought we were. Looking back, God has shown me that His timing for adding kids was way better than any plan I had come up with. However, at the time I became frustrated and emotionally drained when "nothing was happening". We were unsuccessful after trying for 1 1/2 years.

In the summer of 2003, Nate coached a collegiate baseball team called the Twin City Scrappers. At the beginning of August they qualified to play in the World Series in Ohio. I made plans with Nate's dad & step mom to make the trip to Ohio to watch. Nate was not aware of this but I had let our friends the Bertas know who would be there to watch their son play. I was at work at the Telephone Company when my phone rang and the caller id said a dentists' name. I answered and Ray (Berta) was on the other end. He informed me he was with Nate and that he had been hit in the mouth when the baseball came through the screen in the batting cage. The ball split his lower lip and and messed up his two front teeth on the top. One was 1/2 gone and the other was bent back to the roof of his mouth. A plastic surgeon had stitched up his lip at the ER and this dentist cleaned up the teeth, pulling out the 1 that was bent back. He left the partial tooth in for the time being. He remained in Ohio to coach and we made the trip out to cheer them on. I remember seeing him for the first time. He looked like he had been in a fight with a baseball and the ball won! During some free time we had gone to the mall and many heads turned to stare. He was quite the site. :) The team lost a couple of games and we headed back to IL. Season over.

Ray hooked Nate up with a good dentist in town and he had an appointment on my birthday (August 14th). He had the remaining part of his other tooth pulled that day. After work, we went out for supper and returned home and finished our celebrating. (I'll keep the blog clean and you can fill in the blanks). :)