A Penny From Heaven: My Birth Story

My mother, Wanda Lee Maxson, got married at the age of 17 a few months after her graduation from high school. My father Jack Goodwin, only a couple of years older, wanted to farm and raise cattle in the area of Edna, Kansas. Less than a year later, they discovered that, ready or not, they would be parents in a few months.

During her pregnancy, my mom pondered about what to name me but couldn't come up with anything she really liked. Then, she watched a movie entitled, "Pennies from Heaven". (Ever heard that song? An interesting side note is that many years later my husband enjoyed singing that song to me. :-) It was a moving story of a childless couple who adopted a little girl. They decided to name her Penny because she was a "Penny from Heaven" in their lives. That's when my mom decided to name me Penny. Since she chose my first name, she let my dad choose my middle name Diann.

About a week before I was born in January, 1949, a bad snowstorm hit our area of southeast Kansas. Because my uncle was afraid that mom wouldn't be able to make it to town if she went into labor, he suggested that she go to stay with her grandma in Coffeyville for a few days. Well, the snow melted, and still no signs of labor, so mom went back home to the country.

Two days after that, she was able to make the trip to Coffeyville and deliver a beautiful baby girl. I made my entrance into this world on January 17 at Coffeyville Memorial Hospital. We had to stay there for an extra 3-4 days because another snowstorm had hit, and the roads weren't safe enough to take me home in my mother's arms.

Perhaps, being born in the midst of a stormy month was a precursor to my personality, but you'll hear more about that in the following weeks.