Eva received a few marriage proposals that she rejected or perhaps it was the men that were backing off. She had one non-negotiable condition for saying yes: she would never bear a child. 

Eva’s mother, Trinity, liked to tell her how her dad and her formed a couple until Eva was born in 1960 on Thanksgiving Day. Her father felt useless while Trinity was in the labor room getting ready for delivery. During this time, he went through an array of emotions. His joy switched to uncertainty, his excitement to anxiety, all while recalling bad jokes too often heard from playboy friends: “Fatherhood is an act of faith”. 

When Eva was brought to him, he seemed indifferent both to her and his tired wife. He performed a methodical examination of the little creature before him and felt no real connection to her. He anxiously searched for the features resembling his.  Not my nose, my mouth or my forefront, he noted. “She is not mine” he dropped out loud as he stormed out. 

Eva grew up without a father and with a mother who despised her for being the reason her husband walked away. Eva would not risk putting a child into this world until she knew they would be unconditionally loved. She could never have confirmation of this ahead of time and therefore condemned herself to a lonely life. It was cruel that something she could not control, like the shape of a nose, could determine the love of a dad.