• Boy, what a morning! Boy, what a morning! By Duane Shimogawa – The Garden Island At 6:00 a.m. on Friday, I got the best wake-up call of my life! For some reason though, I knew that this call would
• Boy, what a morning!
Boy, what a morning!
By Duane Shimogawa – The Garden Island
At 6:00 a.m. on Friday, I got the best wake-up call of my life! For some reason though, I knew that this call would bring some good news and indeed it did, as my only sister, Shantelle Manibog and my only brother-in-law Eugemar Manibog gave birth to a beautiful baby boy (it does kinda look like me) named Cody Kendan Shimogawa Manibog.
(Kendan is for the first names of the great-grandfather’s, Kenichi Shimogawa and Daniel Costa).
“Congratulations, uncle!” my sister exclaimed as I answered my phone.
Right away, my emotion-meter went through the roof with mixed feelings and I was speechless for a couple of seconds. However, I think waking up to something like that would make anyone speechless.
For one, I felt very happy and incredibly proud, as this was my induction into the uncle category.
I know that I’m still in my early 20’s, but boy did it get me thinking about getting old.
However, if becoming an uncle makes me feel old, then I don’t know what better way to make me think about the aging process.
As I made my way to the hospital to see my sister’s first child, I almost felt like I was in a dream and a couple of times, I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming and that this was all a great reality.
I still can’t believe, even today, that there’s a little boy that I’m so very much a part of.
It’s almost like seeing the future right there in front of your eyes.
When I reached the fourth-floor of Wilcox Hospital, the walk to her room felt like miles, as I couldn’t wait to see Cody.
As I opened the door to her room, my palms were sweaty and to my surprise, my brother-in-law was sleeping and my sister was wide awake (it’s almost like Eugemar had the baby instead of my sister).
Then, in a little plastic holding container, there he was, wrapped up in tiny blankets.
I could not stop smiling, both on the inside and on the outside, although I did feel nervous, this was a monumental moment in my life.
Now, I will have the chance to see Cody grow up and of course, play some sports! I’ve always watched parents at youth sporting events and it must be so awesome to see their son or daughter out there playing their hearts out, at an athletic function.
It must be a pretty special feeling, one that I can now relate to.
I’ve also seen lots of uncles who are very supportive and extremely proud of their neices and nephews.
I am now a part of the gallery of uncles and this gives me a new perspective when out in the field at youth sporting occasions.
More importantly though, it’s a chance for me to guide Cody through life and become a supportive and understanding uncle. I may be new to this and I do know that my life has now changed and it’s a change that’s definitely welcomed.
Duane Shimogawa, Sports Editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) and mailto:kauaisports @pulitzer.net
