Platon's Birth

January 4, 1930, was the day Platon was born. I recall the day vividly. I was five and a half years old. The doctor was a female doctor, Dr. Rose Minnie Rose, one of the few women doctors in that period of time. She had been called to come to our house because my mother was ready to give birth. Dr. Rose was patronized by the Greeks on our street, and had delivered many of the Greek children on Aubert Avenue, including my sister Olympia and me. Many years later Dr. Rose was still practicing medicine, and she would attend to the birth of my nephew Stefan, and the births of my children Evangeline and Elias.

I don't know how Dr. Rose had been contacted when my mother was ready to give birth to my brother Platon, because we had no telephone or automobile. We lived at 761 Aubert Avenue, and Dr. Rose's office was at least a mile away, at the corner of Union and Easton Avenues. Her office was on the second floor, above a store.

It was in the middle of winter, a bitterly cold day. The streets, sidewalks, trees, everything was covered with ice. My mother was in the back bedroom which had a fireplace. There was wood on the grate, burning. The room was warm and cozy.

My father, sister Olympia and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the doctor. I went to the living room. I was too short to reach the window, so I dragged a chair to the window and climbed up. I could now easily look out the large window, up and down the street. Nothing stirred on the street, no cars, no people, no animals. Soon an old black Model T Ford, a Tin Lizzie as they were called at the time, came slowly rolling down the street on thin spindly tires and stopped in front of our house. There were no other cars parked on the street.

A small, slim woman, all bundled up, from head to toe, wearing a long black coat reaching to the ground, and a black hat covering all her hair and ears, got out of the car on the passenger side. She reached into the front seat of the car and pulled out a medical bag. Dr. Rose had arrived.

I watched her as she slowly, carefully and laboriously held on to the metal banister and climbed the ice covered steps from the sidewalk below to the terrace above, about ten to twelve steps. The sidewalk on the terrace to the front porch steps was also ice-covered. I saw her hold on to the banister with one hand, and with the other hand holding her medical bag, she held the bag above the sidewalk, twisted her arm like a pitcher ready to throw a baseball, and gave the bag a strong swing and threw it on the ground toward the porch steps.

The medical bag slid on the ice, and came to rest at the bottom of the porch steps. A perfect landing. Dr. Rose then carefully held on to the fence as she walked to the porch steps. Then she picked up her medical bag with one hand, and with the other hand held onto the wooden railing and came up the final steps to the porch. She had successfully maneuvered the treacherous ice-covered path.

When she reached the porch, my father went and welcomed her into the house. Platon was born shortly after.

© 2003 by Jennie Constantinides Vlanton

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