Dennis McCarthy has the day off. Here is a “Best of Dennis” column originally published on May 16, 1991 in the Los Angeles Daily News.
Uncle Al is pacing the maternity ward, doing the job he does best — cuddling a crying newborn baby.
The retired 72-year-old Chatsworth man has been blessed with the golden touch, the people at Valley Presbyterian Hospital say.
Four years, hundreds of babies — and Al Dinsfriend hasn’t failed to stop one from crying yet.
But the baby girl in his arms Tuesday morning continues to wail, and Uncle Al — as he is affectionately called around the hospital — is feeling the pressure.
“Please, honey, don’t spoil my record,” he whispers, rocking her gently.
If she doesn’t quiet down soon, he knows he might have to resort to his big stopper — his lights out pitch.
Uncle Al might have to sing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”
It is the song he sang so many nights to quiet his own baby boy — the song he so desperately wanted to sing to his three grandchildren but can’t because they are so far away.
And that, more than anything, is why this gentle, loving man walks the hospital maternity ward two days a week, five hours a day: cuddling babies, changing diapers and bathing newborns.
Why he walks them down the hall — clean and quiet — to their mothers.
Why he enjoys the quizzical stares of young mothers looking back at him, with the same question on their lips.
“Who’s this man holding my baby?”
Missing his grandchildren
Anne Marie Fastiggi leans over and touches Uncle A’s hand tenderly.
“It’s OK, take your time,” the director of volunteer services at Valley Presbyterian says, softly.
He nods, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Darn, I didn’t want to do this,” Al says.
With so much joy around him, he didn’t want to cry.
But he can’t get past this part of the story — his reasons for being here — without thinking about the three children in Switzerland.
“I miss them…
Read the full article here
