George Lucas' New Headquarters

This is where my son Christopher was born. It's where my nieces Astrid and Calista where born. It's also where I saw a medical team working over the shattered body of someone who had jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. It's the place where I saw a man with a fishhook through his face being told he couldn't get emergency medical care because he was well enough to get on a bus and go to the VA hospital.

It's where my prenatal file had watch for Pregnancy Induced Hypertension all over it but I still nearly died from Toxemia because nobody would listen to my symptoms. It's where I was told pregnant women don't get ear infections. It's where my eardrum burst for the first time. It's where I was finally diagnosed with PIH, with a blood pressure of 220 over 180, when I went to the ER after my eardrum burst. It's where they thought my baby was dead because the batteries in the doppler stethoscope were dead.

It's where they called my parents and told them I was dying and to come down to the hospital and say goodbye to me. It's where I had to stay in a dark room for three days after Chris was born so I wouldn't have any more seizures. It's where I learned how to fight for medical care.

It's where a twelve year old girl had to give birth to her brother's child because her mother insisted that is what she wanted. The mother was forcing the child to drop out of school and care for this baby. The nurse I talked to said there was nothing social services could do for the little girl because it was military jurisdiction. There was nothing the military could do because the father was too high ranking.

Somehow, despite all that negative, I still have a fond spot in my heart for the old place. I like to think that there will still be births there, but now it's dreams that will be born and go out into the world to amaze and edify.