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Taking fate into their own hands
When his wife, Melinda, told him she was expecting, “the only thing running through my mind was nervousness because I wanted to be there so desperately when the baby was born,” said Cruz, a graduate of Newark High School. Cruz, who has been in the Army for 18 months, was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas when Melinda told him the good news several months ago. He knew he was being deployed to Iraq but didn’t know when. “It was very crazy,” said Melinda. “We didn’t know when I was going to have her.” In the early months of the pregnancy, Jesse was engaged in intense training exercises and was unable to spend time with Melinda and his stepdaughter, Korrina, at their home in Fort Hood. He and his wife decided that Melinda would stay with her mother, Beth Schied of North Rose, during the pregnancy. “The thing I missed most was just being there for her and our daughter,” said Jesse, who visited them numerous times, including on Thanksgiving. When his deployment date was narrowed down, he found out he’d been granted leave to be present for the birth of his child. As time grew near, however, he was summoned to return to Fort Hood on Dec. 14. His child was due the very next day. Jesse and Melinda decided to take charge of their fate — doctors agreed to induce labor. “We felt like our backs were against the wall,” said Jesse. “It was the only decision we had to make so I could see our creation, our beautiful daughter before I left.” Following 13 hours of labor, Mariah Jade was born Dec. 10 at Rochester General Hospital. She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19 inches long — the exact size of her father when he was born. Proud grandparents Beth (Dallas) Schied of North Rose; Craig (Peg) Arliss of Clyde; and Herman and Sandra Cruz of Newark celebrated the arrival as well. “To be there for the birth meant everything to me,” said Jesse. “It was probably the biggest and most important day of my life, one of them that I will never forget. To see Mariah for the first time was breathtaking. I was speechless about what I had just witnessed — simply amazing.” Although Mariah is Jesse’s first child, being a father is a role he already feels comfortable in. “It’s the best feeling in the world to have a little one to depend on you so much,” he said. “It makes me feel like a better and more complete person. The only difference with this baby we recently had is that it was our first child, but we were mother and father long before then. There is no better feeling in the world than having a family of your own to raise, love and care about.”
“It was good to just see my wife and kids’ faces light up like the Christmas tree lights when the received their presents,” said Jesse. “My family was proud of me, glad I brought another Cruz to this earth — so everybody watch out.” After only a few short days with his newborn baby girl, Jesse returned to Fort Hood on Dec. 14 and was deployed Dec. 16. On Jan. 1, Jesse, who specializes in generator repair, arrived in Talifar, in northern Iraq along the Syrian border. Melinda, who is staying in New York while Jesse is away, said she is counting down the days until her husband returns. Jesse will have two weeks of leave in June or July, and is scheduled to return in December. Melinda said what she misses most is “just seeing him, having him be with the kids, so Mariah knows who her Dad is.” “I can’t wait for him to come home,” she said. “I pray for him every day.” Jesse, likewise, is praying for his safe return to his wife and girls. “It’s difficult to be away from my family, of course, but I manage to stay sane,” he said by e-mail last week from Iraq. “Pray, working out, playing basketball, music, movies — I keep busy and I am a real active person. I try to get my mind right and not think about it too much, but the pain is definitely there.” With five or six months until his return, he said he is looking forward to the day he is with his family once again. “I just can’t wait to see how much the kids have grown — talking better for one of them and the other hopefully crawling,” he said. “That would be a blessing, and seeing my wife’s beautiful face again.” Copyright
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2009 |
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When
Jesse Cruz found out that he was going to be a father for the first time, he
felt the usual emotions that most fathers-to-be experience — joy and fear. But
unlike many other fathers, he feared missing the moment many may take for
granted — being there when his child was born.
The
family celebrated an early Christmas together on Dec. 13, before Jesse shipped
out.