Annemaria

It was in the early evening when an ambulance finally stopped in front of my family's house. It was war time and my grandparents had tried for days to have an ambulance come to the house and pick up my Mom. She was having trouble giving birth to her fourth child (AnneMaria). The ambulance was an old run down army truck. It was dark and filthy from heavy use. My Mom was half delirious with pain, and she was so weak she couldn't walk; so the ambulance driver just picked her up there because there was no medic driver; just one driver. Mom screamed in pain when he picked her up to carry her down stairs. Once she got a glimpse at the truck, she was frightened by the sight of it. She screamed even more when the driver put her gurney inside the truck. Grandma slipped in the back of the ambulance. She had to sit on the floor. She was with her daughter. Grandma held her tight with her arms wrapped all around her. She was cradling Mom. She didn't know what else to do. Grandma's tears was gushing down her face. She didn't even bother to wipe them away. Grandma tried to soothe the pain but at the same time she knew there was not one thing that she could do to help ease Maria's pain. Shortly before the ambulance got to the hospital, Mom reached out to her mother. She was very weak now and she was struggling for breath and grandma had to lean in close to understand what her daughter was saying. 'Mother please do save the baby, her name is Anne.' After she got the words out, Mom stopped breathing. Grandma said, 'oh no Maria please hold on girl: please hold on, we're almost at the hospital Maria. Can you hear me please?' Grandma kept calling Mom's name, but she knew her daughter had passed away. Seconds later the ambulance stopped in front of the emergency entrance. A team of doctors and nurses were standing by. They rushed Mom in to surgery without any further delay. Doctors delivered a baby girl by C-section. July 3, 1943 AnneMaria took her first breath. Her mother Maria Oberholz had taken her last breath shortly before AnneMaria was born. AnneMaria was a miracle; she also was an orphan at her birth.