Namesake

Tommy and I have decided on a name for baby girl. Stella. It's not conventional or trendy, I know, but what the name means to me trumps those things. We are naming her after my Granny. She died in 2003 but I still adore her and I miss her and I think about her all the time. My mom went back to work when I was little and I went to Granny's house everyday until I was old enough to go to school. She was 91 when she passed away, she was born in 1911 (how amazing is that!). So, you can imagine what it must have been like for her to be in her 70's when I stayed at her house everyday. I didn't have a lot of friends my age, so I had pretend friends. "Cooler" was a real good buddy of mine (from the pound puppies) and I would drag her down to this big hard rock, "Cooler's house" and she would pretend with me like she actually believed in my fake friends. When I got there in the morning I usually ate cereal or toast and she listened to the obituaries on her radio and I watched cartoons. She also used to give me coffee, or "secret" as she called it, so my dad wouldn't know. She is also the reason I know the story of the Hortons and the Brady's from back in the 1980's on Days of Our Lives. This is what we watched everyday at 1:00, the "stories." Every Sunday my family went to visit her and eat dinner after church. I saw cousins and aunts and uncles, so many that I don't see anymore. Granny had 10 kids, so you can only imagine the amount of extended family members that produced.

There are so many things to say about her. There are so, so many more stories to tell. She was loving and funny, really witty, and smart. My dad absolutely adored her as did I and the entire family. She was the glue that held everyone together and I don't think she even knew it. She was a "beautiful soul" as my cousin would say and I can't think of a better way to honor that love than to name my daughter after her. My husband is amazing and wonderful and even though he never met her, he understands how much I still love her and I am so blessed that he feels like this name is fitting as well. Her middle name is Mae, after Tommy's Granny. A woman who is also funny, loving and sweet. Tommy has fond memories of her as well. We haven't told her yet, and I hope that she is happy about our choice. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough for all the funny stories that I have of Granny. So, Stella Mae Farrow it is. Probably a little early to announce, but that's okay. So to a beautiful person, inside and out, I love you! Thank you for helping make me who I am today and I hope that our little Stella knows how much you would have loved her.