Never Shall I Forget...

In response to reading Elie Weisel's Holocaust Memoir, Night, I am having my students do an imitative writing assignment in which the mimic the style and structure of the "Never shall I forget..." passage. To help them along, I wrote this passage about the birth of my first daughter. I thought it was worth sharing with the rest of you.

Never shall I forget that blessed morning in the doctor’s office when my
wife went into labor. The shock and surprise; it was three weeks too
soon. The pounding of my heart, the adrenaline pumping through my
veins. Never shall I forget the nurse’s words to me. “You’re going
to have a baby.”

Never shall I forget my wife lying on the hospital bed. Pain and
anguish on her face as each contraction hit. Powerless to do anything but
hold her hand and kiss her forehead. Yet overwhelmed with the joy of
anticipation.

Never shall I forget those four short hours as they passed by so
quickly. The sterile hospital room. The heart monitor sounding off
rhythmically with each beat of the baby’s heart. The pain of each
contraction as they got closer and closer. The excitement as the moment
drew nearer and
nearer.

Never shall I forget the counting and the pushing. The doctor’s soft
and encouraging voice urging her to push one more time. Never shall I
forget that first cry breaking through the din of the room. Never shall I
forget the moment they laid the tiny babe on my wife’s chest. Never shall
I forget the toughness of the cord as I cut her loose. Never shall I
forget the ink marks of her footprints upon my forearms. Never shall I
forget cradling her in my arms for the very first time, feeling her wiggle and
squirm just as she had in the womb. Never shall I forget the day I would
first be called “Daddy.”

Never.