We finally had a little financial security, and were able to buy some nice things to welcome our impending newborn into the world. I even bought a new car-a ‘92 Ford Crown Victoria that I still have today. It’s a piece of crap now, but hey, there’s a lot of history inside that car. For the Christmas holidays, Colette and I drove back home from Atlanta, where we’d been renting an apartment. Colette ended up staying with my parents for the remainder of her pregnancy, while I hit the road to seek even greater fame and fortune. In addition to my fame and fortune, something else was growing at the same time. Me. Some husbands put on “sympathy” weight during their wives’ pregnancy. Being a sensitive guy, I couldn’t bear to make Colette feel bad about herself as her former model waist gave way to a huge basketball underneath her shirt. In addition, I suffered the double whammy of picking up “Abdullah weight” on the road. “Let’s get some ice cream, champ” was one of Abby’s favorite sayings as we sped onward into 1992 in our rented Cadillac.
