Posted: 12/31/2005 3:59:10 PM EDT
[#24]
Who would name their child "JEALOUS"???
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The same kind of people who would name their kid "Cape Cod"...... On Cape, evacuee gives birth to a son and a new dream By Sally Jacobs, Globe Staff | September 28, 2005
FALMOUTH -- The gradually dwindling population of evacuees at Camp Edwards was boosted by one new member yesterday. He weighs 6 pounds 9 ounces and has velvet-soft ears. His name is Cape Cod Bannister, or ''C.C." for short.
''I named him that because I love Cape Cod," said Dionne White, who gave birth to the first baby born to a member of the camp's ''Village," at Falmouth Hospital at 5:19 a.m. ''Coming here has been a big break for me. It's like Christmas, just a big old miracle. And you don't get that very often."
White, who turns 37 today, has been given numerous donations of baby clothes and toys. But one thing she laughingly said she does not need much help with is giving birth. White has 12 other children ranging in age from 3 to 21. Four of them are at Camp Edwards.
Another three of White's children, an 11-year-old and 9-year-old twins, were at White's sister's house in New Orleans when the floodwaters rose and have not been found. White and her partner, James Bannister, who is the father of six of her children, clung to the roof of their flooded house for three days before help came.
White says that she begged rescuers to take her to her sister's home several blocks away to get her other children, but they could not. Photos of White and her missing children have been placed on the Red Cross website, but Denise Monteiro, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, said that no trace of the children has been found.
''I am just praying and praying they are OK," sighed White, cradling her hours-old son in her arms as tears slid down her cheeks.
Of her five other children, Massachusetts officials say one is in jail, another is living in Texas, and three remain in adoptive care in Louisiana.
Perched on her hospital bed, a blue plastic cross hanging from her neck, White tells of a life of hardship. She had her first baby at age 15, and by 18 she had four children. All four were taken by the state and put up for adoption, she says, although several were reunited with her when they became adults. Another three of her children were put up for adoption in later years. Asked about the seven who were adopted, White struggled to match names and ages, finally shaking her head sadly.
''I got so many children it's a doggone shame," she said.
White, who like many evacuees was born in New Orleans and never left until she was put on a plane to Massachusetts, says that after her first four children were taken from her and a boyfriend slashed her with a razor, leaving a 3-inch scar on her face, she became deeply depressed. Even when she tried birth control, she said she still got pregnant, because she did not always take her medication.
White worked briefly as a nursing assistant while in her 20s, but soon went on welfare. She says she receives Supplemental Security Income benefits because she is disabled by depression and also gets help from Bannister, 53, a disabled longshoreman.
White is adamant that she will have no more children. Yesterday morning she eagerly signed a form consenting to have her fallopian tubes tied as soon as she is able, after discussing the surgery with a physician.
White intends to start her life over in Massachusetts where, she says, ''everyone treats you with love." Monteiro said that two houses, one in Hingham and one in Boston, are being considered for White's family.
''We have never, ever, all of us been together," White said, ''so, that's my dream, a nice big old house in Boston. And all 13 of my children."
Sally Jacobs can be reached at [email protected].
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