consent forms for us to marry. A good friend of my parents was a minister in a Congregational church, and he found a state where you can get married without parental consent if you are the father of a child. So when Mark was two months old, Bruce and I went down to Dover, Delaware, and we got married. The marriage didn’t last, as one would expect. We stayed married legally I think five years; we were actually together about three.
Having Mark was exceedingly difficult, life altering, and a blessing at the same time. He was just a wonderful, wonderful baby—he’s been wonderful all through his life. From time to time people have asked me, “Would you do it again?” And my answer has been, [ crying ] “As long as I could have the son I have, yes !”
I decided that as a single mom, I needed to do something other than working as a waitress—so I decided on mechanical drafting at the community college in Berlin. Actually, I was the first female to go through the college’s mechanical drafting curriculum, and I just found engineering fantastic. I ended up being the first female to be hired in the paper mill in a technical position.
You and I met in the community college, when Mark was nine. We were living together a while when we told him that we were getting married. He said, “That’s great! I always wanted a dad—now I can have help taking care of mom!”
Greg Glines: And then son number two has another story to tell. . . .
Sara: We talked about having another child. The three of us sat down, and you and I said, “We’re thinking about having another child.” And Mark said, “That’s great—I never wanted to be an only child.” So I said to the both of you, “So all three of us are going to bring this child up?” “Yep, that’s fine.” And I’m thinking to myself, Right . But anyway, we went through the pregnancy, and I continued to work at the paper mill.
I remember one day I wasn’t feeling all that great, and I drove myself home. It was about noon. I called you at maybe three o’clock and said, “I think you better get home.” I was obviously in labor, but it wasn’t a big deal—my water had not broken. It was March 15, the Ides of March. We were traveling to the hospital, and the road was full of frost heaves. We hit a frost heave, and my water broke. I’m thinking, I’ll never make it to the hospital . But I didn’t dare tell you.
Greg: We had a Ford Fiesta, and you had kind of pushed the seat back a little bit. You started taking your pants down, and I said, “Sally, what are you doing ?” And you said, “The baby’s coming!” And I said, “No, it’s not.”
Sara: But I was right! So at that point you’re steering the car to the side of the road, and you reached down and you caught Kevin before he hit the floor of the car while I reached over and pulled on the emergency brake so we wouldn’t roll down the hill—team effort! Then I asked, “So what are you going to do now?” And you said, “Well, I’m going to call an ambulance.” I checked his eyes and his nose and his mouth, and he was doing just fine. It was really chilly, and I lifted up my tunic and put him against my body so that he could have as much body heat as possible.
You ran to a nearby hotel to call an ambulance, and I asked you to get towels. You came back with the towels, and I wrapped Kevin up in those as best I could—
Greg: Our friend at the hotel had explained to me that calling an ambulance was not the way to do it—she said, “Drive your ass up to the hospital! Right now !”
Sara: So you started doing that. And it was really neat because it was about five o’clock, and as we’re driving to the hospital I’m waving to all the people who I work with because they were on their way home. So we get to the hospital, and the emergency room doc got in on the driver’s side. I just rolled Kevin over, and they clamped the cord and cut it. They took Kevin in, and then they took me.
When we got
Having Mark was exceedingly difficult, life altering, and a blessing at the same time. He was just a wonderful, wonderful baby—he’s been wonderful all through his life. From time to time people have asked me, “Would you do it again?” And my answer has been, [ crying ] “As long as I could have the son I have, yes !”
I decided that as a single mom, I needed to do something other than working as a waitress—so I decided on mechanical drafting at the community college in Berlin. Actually, I was the first female to go through the college’s mechanical drafting curriculum, and I just found engineering fantastic. I ended up being the first female to be hired in the paper mill in a technical position.
You and I met in the community college, when Mark was nine. We were living together a while when we told him that we were getting married. He said, “That’s great! I always wanted a dad—now I can have help taking care of mom!”
Greg Glines: And then son number two has another story to tell. . . .
Sara: We talked about having another child. The three of us sat down, and you and I said, “We’re thinking about having another child.” And Mark said, “That’s great—I never wanted to be an only child.” So I said to the both of you, “So all three of us are going to bring this child up?” “Yep, that’s fine.” And I’m thinking to myself, Right . But anyway, we went through the pregnancy, and I continued to work at the paper mill.
I remember one day I wasn’t feeling all that great, and I drove myself home. It was about noon. I called you at maybe three o’clock and said, “I think you better get home.” I was obviously in labor, but it wasn’t a big deal—my water had not broken. It was March 15, the Ides of March. We were traveling to the hospital, and the road was full of frost heaves. We hit a frost heave, and my water broke. I’m thinking, I’ll never make it to the hospital . But I didn’t dare tell you.
Greg: We had a Ford Fiesta, and you had kind of pushed the seat back a little bit. You started taking your pants down, and I said, “Sally, what are you doing ?” And you said, “The baby’s coming!” And I said, “No, it’s not.”
Sara: But I was right! So at that point you’re steering the car to the side of the road, and you reached down and you caught Kevin before he hit the floor of the car while I reached over and pulled on the emergency brake so we wouldn’t roll down the hill—team effort! Then I asked, “So what are you going to do now?” And you said, “Well, I’m going to call an ambulance.” I checked his eyes and his nose and his mouth, and he was doing just fine. It was really chilly, and I lifted up my tunic and put him against my body so that he could have as much body heat as possible.
You ran to a nearby hotel to call an ambulance, and I asked you to get towels. You came back with the towels, and I wrapped Kevin up in those as best I could—
Greg: Our friend at the hotel had explained to me that calling an ambulance was not the way to do it—she said, “Drive your ass up to the hospital! Right now !”
Sara: So you started doing that. And it was really neat because it was about five o’clock, and as we’re driving to the hospital I’m waving to all the people who I work with because they were on their way home. So we get to the hospital, and the emergency room doc got in on the driver’s side. I just rolled Kevin over, and they clamped the cord and cut it. They took Kevin in, and then they took me.
When we got
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