Tuesday, December 15, 1992

Bev's Closing Day becomes so much more, December 15, 1992.


HAVE YOU EVER GOOGLED YOUR NAME?

Well I did today, and one of the things that came up was a post on Block Shopper about real estate sale, when we bought our townhouse back in 1992. It said:

Buyer: Beverly GBenyamin, Lorens Y Benyamin $57,500 on Dec. 15, 1992 ...

DECEMBER 15, 1992???

The first thing that crossed my mind when I read that date was, thats Jen's birthday! Then I remembered what I was reading, and started laughing, oh yeah, the closing earlier in that day.

I THOUGHT I SHOULD SHARE THE STORY OF WHEN I SCREAMED AT THE TITLE LADY SHE WAS MY LAST DUCK!

We wanted everything to be perfect, in order, ALL OUR DUCKS IN A ROW, before the birth of our first child.

While I was pregnant, my hubby (who had dropped out of high school to work full time), went back to school and got his GED. I took Assyrian language classes at the local college to the delight of my in-laws because I wanted to pass some of my husbands language down to our children (which didn't happen, but I tried). And we were buying our first house (actually a very small town house). 

I had been ordered to be on complete bed rest since October 15th when I went into pre term labor. I was so excited the day of closing that I would get to leave the house. I HAD BEEN IN BED FOR 2 STRAIGHT MONTHS. I felt sure the baby was fine, secure and wanted her mama to get out and get some fresh air. 

Around lunchtime I had some cramping while I was moving around getting ready but I didn't think it was any big deal.


The closing was at a bank in a conference room. I asked if they could please turn down the heat and do something about the awful smell in the room. The lady from the title company said "maybe you're just overdressed, or maybe its just your hormones, ha ha ha" as she laughed at me, TOUCHING LORENS' ARM. 

So what I HEARD her say was SHE WAS THE REASON FOR THE AWFUL SMELL AND SHE WANTED A SLAP.

About an hour into closing, while the real estate agents, lawyers and title lady were small talking away with Lorens, I realized, I'm definitely in labor, but I wasn't ready to say it out loud yet.

I remember thinking, I GUESS THE DOCTOR WASN'T OVER EXAGGERATING ABOUT THAT 'COMPLETE' BED REST THING AFTER ALL. Lucyyyy, now look at what you've done!!! 
But unfortunately for me, the title company runs the show at real estate closings, not me. Its not over until they say its over. AND THIS TITLE LADY/DUCK WOULD NOT STOP QUACKING! I couldn't take it anymore and I asked her how much longer is this going to go on before I can sign the damn papers? She said we could reschedule if I had somewhere more important I needed to be.

I said, "I'VE GOT ALL MY DUCKS IN A ROW THAT I NEED IN A ROW TO HAVE THIS BABY. YOU'RE THE LAST DUCK! I'm in labor and I am NOT leaving this room until I'm a homeowner. So you better start handing me papers to sign unless you know how to cut the cord!"

Lorens stood up and said "Ok, my wife is in labor, we're having a baby, we've got to go!" I said "OH, HELL NO! I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL WE ARE HOMEOWNERS!"

Everyone was FINALLY quiet, doing their jobs. It only took about 30 minutes to get through all the paperwork after that. Title lady left the room to make sure there was no other paperwork being faxed over that we needed to sign.


I remember thinking, as another powerful contraction hit me, (and I was breathing, he he, hoo hoo), OK, the baby is coming, maybe I should just climb up here on this big table, I could lay down on title lady's coat. I loved the thought of my water breaking on her coat. I thought thats what she deserved for insulting me and touching Lorens' arm. 

THEN I SAW THEM ALL LOOKING ACROSS THE TABLE AT ME, MOUTHS 1/2 OPEN, BECAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN ALL OVER MY FACE. I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GRAB HER COAT, CLIMB UP ONTO THE TABLE AND DELIVER THIS BABY, AND THEY KNEW IT. 

Then the title lady came back in the room and said, "THAT WAS THE LAST PAPER YOU NEEDED TO SIGN, WE'RE DONE, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE HOMEOWNERS!" The lawyers & realtor's looked more relieved than me.

We celebrated for about 10 seconds, they wished us luck and then I remember thinking, OK, thats nice, but these contractions are less than 10 minutes apart and it was getting harder to talk during them and I felt the need to lay down. We needed to get to the hospital NOW.

As Lorens drove through what was now, of course, rush hour traffic, I complained non-stop. "I haven't left the damn house in 2 months. This was going to be our fun day. We were SUPPOSE to have a special celebration dinner after closing! You promised me! I was going to get to choose the restaurant for once! Now I'm going to be eating hospital food tonight! And I don't have my special "I'm in labor, time to go to the hospital bag" with me! Just my luck, or lack thereof."

When we finally got to the hospital we found out I was indeed, in active labor and the baby was coming. Just a few hours later, at 7:12pm, on the very same day we closed on our very first home, our very first child, Jennifer, was born. She was 1 week early, but perfect.


Born to parents that were both H.S. Graduates, Both could speak (a little) of the husbands family language and both were HOMEOWNERS with all their DUCKS IN A ROW.