Friday, February 19, 2010

Happy Birthday to Del

I want to wish my sister's hubby, Del, a very happy birthday today. Del is a great guy and an all-around terrific brother.

Del was also one of my "technical consultants" for my book "Courage of the Heart", in his honor I'm featuring an excerpt from that book here -


excerpt:

Once again he read the memo from the pharmaceutical company's management offices based in Indianapolis to the site laboratory where '589APPLE' was being developed. The note made reference to potential undesirable effects as addressed in test result number 04783, "This test stresses the need for further research before we market this drug for the public's use. However, this test result is to be excluded from results being submitted in the FDA package so as not to delay the approval for production. It is hoped that we will eliminate the concerns raised in number 04783 prior to the first sale." Adam looked through the folder for the mentioned test result and cursed when he realized it was still sitting in his bottom desk drawer.

His cell phone rang shrilly and the librarian gave him a disapproving look. He picked up the contents of the folder and ran to stand outside the front door. Sondra, the girl in customer service who had replaced Davie was very agitated from answering customer's complaints about service. She was calling to let Adam know that a traffic accident nearby had taken down cable and phone lines and disrupted service to a large area. They needed him back at the office immediately.

Late that afternoon he called Davie to tell her not to wait up for him that night. He ordered a couple of sandwiches in and looked at a long night ahead until his job would be done.

Hours later, the crisis was averted and all Adam wanted to do was put his head down somewhere and go to sleep. He reached into his bottom drawer and found the test result he wanted to read earlier. But he was so tired that he could barely make any sense of the long list of statistics that headed the paper, so he folded it and stuck it in his shirt pocket. He was heading home to his bed and to Davie.

When he came in, the TV set was on and Davie was curled up on the sofa sound asleep, she had obviously tried to wait for him after all. Adam turned off the TV and spent a moment watching her. This was the kind of memory he wanted to save forever. With all of the things in his life that had gone awry, Adam marveled at the good fortune he had stumbled upon the day Davie came into his life.

He bent over her and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. Adam tried to memorize every feeling, the scent from her hair, her weight in his arms, and the way she opened her eyes and smiled just before she wound her arms around his neck.

"Hmmm… what time is it?" Her voice was sleepy.

"After three."

"How are you ever going to get up in the morning?"

He was amused by the way her words slurred. "I'll go in late." He walked into their bedroom and placed her gently on the bed.

Adam helped her while she fumbled into a night shirt and crawled under the blankets. Then he went to his side of the bed and stripped, leaving his clothing on the floor. He got under the covers and pulled her body up against his, he kissed her on the top of her head and whispered "G'night." Before he reached to turn out his night table lamp, he stopped to watch her sleeping in their bed… another memory for him to store.

"A special thank you to my brother (in-law) Del and his skill as a pharmaceutical chemist for lending me his knowledge of FDA drug testing and approvals;..." (from acknowledgments)

Happy Birthday Del!

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