The child

I have never told this story to anyone other than my wife. I was about sixteen, and had always been fascinated with mechanical things.  I had the opportunity to work at what we used to call a gas station, and enjoyed the opportunity to make some money.  I worked for several guys who, to say the least, had loose morals.  There always seemed to be women from the neighborhood who were willing to indulge their desires.  There were many sexual episodes that occurred while I worked there that I choose not to write about.  To say the least, I was very naive about sexual matters.

My job was to occasionally open the station in the morning.  My chores included putting window cleaning supplies on the gas pump islands and take readings off the pumps.  One day I was performing the task and looked down at a small object that at first looked like a dead animal that had no hair.  Although I had only a limited knowledge of the events of pregnancy, I could clearly see it was what is clinically described as a fetus.  The child was about two to three inches in length, clearly curled up, and definitely dead.  To this day I remember with shock reeling back at the site.  I had no idea what to do.  In retrospect, as a Catholic boy, I probably should have done something, perhaps a burial of sorts, or tell my folks about this.  I am left with some regrets as I remember in detail the event.  I chose to do nothing!  It has left a lasting impression on me!

I am a person who believes life is precious, and I wonder who this child could have been.  Having come form two people who probably had very loose morals, would this have been another person with dubious character?  Would this child in a home like mine developed into a person of great talent?  Is this an example of why Planned Parenthood is needed so these abortions performed in a closed gas stations lot would never occur again?  Is this a good case of why contraceptives should be readily available to all to avoid the million plus abortions performed every year?

As a man, I think I should have one half a vote as opposed to a woman’s full vote as we deal with the abortion issue.  Abortion is supposed to be available, but done infrequently according to many of our “catholic” politician such as Nancy Pelosi and so many in Congress.

I know this, I am haunted by the memory of the child’s huddled appearance laying on the side of the concrete of a gasoline island on a cool morning.   -- Enough