#6 Child's Play, Willie Day

It was November, 1970. Popcorn’s commune was getting colder than a witch’s breath. Charlie and Annie said their goodbyes and hitched down to Vancouver B.C. Charlie had grown up in Washington State and had kin there but Annie wanted to go further down to Oregon where it felt more familiar to her. Annie was born in Ontario, OR and had an uncle still living there. Maybe they’d get lucky and pass through the town of Willamina on the way. She loved that name. It reminded her of wild mountain strawberries.

Traveling across borders as a broke American had its challenges, especially when you’re WANTED by the CIA and the military police. But Charlie had his million dollar smile and a few tricks up his sleeve to help pull it off. Unquestionably my daddy was a survivor. He had made it through a hellish tour in the sweaty jungles of eastern Asia. In retrospect, everything else was just child’s play. He was always one step ahead of the game. And when it came to feeding their hungry stomachs, he knew just what to do, too.
-Crash the Greyhound bus station!

Who else would think of eating for free there, or anywhere? -Fresh, clean, hot food…all for the taking without foraging in trashcans. My parents were in hog heaven! After ravishing the food left behind from a wave of riders getting back on their buses, they both relaxed. Satisfied, Charlie belched and sipped some warm coffee from a cup with lipstick on the rim.
Annie smiled at how comical the situation seemed. But inside she knew they couldn't’ go on taking all these risks once their baby was born. So far, there were no plans to change their lifestyle. Charlie insisted they continue down only as far as Lacey, W.A. and stay with his sister’s family. Oregon was out of the question.

On the rainy evening of January 19th, 1971, Charlie and Annie Day jumped into the dilapidated truck borrowed from his brother-in-law. Poor mama had gone into a fast, hard labor without any fair warning. Her naturopath doctor was up in the Seattle area, -A far cry from Lacey where they were hiding out. Daddy just couldn't drive the truck fast enough and my head crowned on the bumpy ride north. To their utter shock, Mama delivered a 5lb, 14 oz baby girl on the side of the road at 10:25pm!

-No clean sheets or pillows, no bells or whistles. No drugs and no grandparents to celebrate my birth. -Just the smell of exhaust and the sound of a coyote barking into the lonely night.
“Let’s call her Willamina Jane,” mama whispered as my daddy tried to keep calm and steer the truck back onto the interstate. He knew he had to get us to a hospital fast. “Willie. I like Willie,” he said. Charlie couldn't shake how helpless he felt. His baby was alive and breathing. Annie was alive. Sure there was lots of blood but nobody was dead at least. Although his heart raced with fear, the "survival mode" gear had switched on inside his brain and zapped him into auto-pilot.

Nothin' was going to stop him from completing his mission that late night, -To get his family to safety no matter what. After all, he just became a father to Willamina Jane Day. -His Willie. Although it was hard to admit, Charlie had to confess that having a baby was no child's play.