It was 1926 in a small town in South Dakota, when a small boy came into the world at 6 PM on April 1st. He wasn't the healthiest boy. He had trouble breathing, he was underweight and they had to slap his behind a few times before he joined the world. The doctor had the sad job of telling his mother that the young boy would not be long for this world. "Say your good byes now because he won't make it through the night."
This was the young couple's first child and they were heart broken. They had spent months looking forward to this, their first child. The plans that they had made came crasing down around their ears.
The young mother huddled around the crib touching her child's hand as she watched him struggle to breath, tears in her eyes as she prayed. She could hear him gasping for breath, wheezing as he pulled air into his weak lungs. It hurt to watch him work so hard for each breath.
The doctor came in the next morning prepared to give the sad news to the young couple. He was surprised when he came into the nursery to find the baby moving and breathing much better. He was very pleased to be able to tell the young parents the good news that it "looks like he will make it after all." He proceeded to fill out the birth certificate.
As the young boy grew up his parents often told him that he was lucky to be alive and they would share this story with him. It wasn't until he got a copy of his birth certificate for his up-coming wedding that he finally connected the dots. HE was the April Fools' Joke. On his birth certificate it said that S. Sampson was born on April 2nd. He fooled them all and lived.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fool's
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2 comments:
Did his birth certificate have the wrong date on it for a reason?
That is a really neat story!!! Back in those days I'm sure it was a lot harder to fight through a difficult start. Poor little baby - but no wonder he lived for so long. What a fighter!
From what I understand (I might be mistaken). The filling out of birth and death certificates didn't start until around the 1920-1930's. It wasn't required before that time. So, since they didn't expect him to live they didn't fill out the birth certificate. Why fill out a birth certificate if you have to fill out a death certificate several hours later? So, when he did live, that's when they filled out the birth certificate.
Beth
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