KIDS IN INDONESIA? I DON'T THINK SO!

Precious Little K., trying John's hat on for size.

Dearest Friends,

One couple, M. & C., had brought two daughters with them to Indonesia -- a small one, about 5, and an older one, S., who was about 15, I think.  There was no school there for S. to attend, but B&R had hired a doctoral student, wishing to do some research, to sort of homeschool any kids over 5 that were there.  Unfortunately for poor S., I was closer to her age than any of the other kids, and the schoolwork didn't take up near enough of her time, so she fell into the habit of dropping by to visit at least once or twice a day.

One day John had only just left for work when she showed up, banging on our door, and the news wasn't good.  The night before, her parents had invited R., E., and little K. over for dinner.  After the meal, the adults visited downstairs, and the two little ones went upstairs to play.  Our townhouses had a sitting area on the upper landing, surrounded by an open railing about waist high.  Little K. decided to climb on it or lean through it, or something, to wave to his parents, lost his grip, and fell to the floor below.

According to young S., they were all terribly relieved when little K. managed to stand up, but then his father grabbed him and started shaking him, yelling "Didn't I tell you not to climb on that?"  He didn't stop until C. came over and grabbed him, saying "E!  Stop!  Look at his arm!  We've got to get him to a doctor!"  Of course, that meant driving that poor baby all the way to Jakarta, on those horrible bumpy roads, with a compound fracture in his arm, then driving all the way back the next evening.  The following morning they woke up to discover that his hand was turning blue, and realized that the arm would have to be re-set.  They may have taken him back to the same hospital, but if I remember right, they actually flew him to Singapore the second time.  Anyway, this time they got it right, thank heavens!

A  few weeks later we were at a party, and John must have been a wee bit tipsy, 'cause I caught him looking all googly-eyed at someone's baby.  You could have knocked me over with a feather when he suddenly asked me, "When are we gonna get one of those?"  Well, I was tickled to death to know that he was looking forward to being a father, but perhaps you'll understand why I had to say "Not until we're safely back in The States, with good doctors, and less vermin!"  Of course, if I'd had any clue what we'd have to go through, or how very long it would take, before we finally held our first child in our arms, I might've dragged him away from the party right then and there, and insisted that we get to work on it immediately!