Why I named her that

For as long as I can remember I've been coming up with baby names. Even before I knew for certain that I wanted to have kids the idea of baby names fascinated me. Imagine being responsible for the name that a new person was going to carry for the rest of their lives. It was very important to me that my child have a distinctive name, one that was unique enough to be memorable and special but not too unique so she would have problems with it later in life. In a world of Emma's and Madison's and Olivia's I wanted my baby to stand out from the crowd in some small way. Not that I have a problem with those names. I think they're beautiful and apparently I'm in good company.

From the time that the hubby and I were a serious couple the poor guy has been subjected to my crazed lists of baby names. What about this one, what about that one? What do you think of (insert name here)? I was a woman obsessed and he was a man besieged.

For a long time the only name that was not up for discussion was her middle name. That was decided long ago. My dear sister, whom I love dearly, is and always has been a terrible klutz. I mean horrible, if there was a puddle or stream nearby she would fall in it. If it was picture day you could guarantee that she would fall and end up with a split lip. If she were eating the food most likely end up on her clothes. Her real name is Kelly but my family ended up nicknaming her Grace Kelly or Grace Slick or simply just Grace. So, for my sister whom I love dearly, I decided long ago that Grace would be some part of my first daughter's name. Unfortunately, the man I married has a last name that does not go well with the name Grace. Back to square one.

As for my daughter's first name, now that's a bit of a long story. A few months before I got pregnant my Mom died. Mother's Day was really tough that year. It was a day that I didn't want to acknowledge, hell, it was a day that I didn't want to get out of bed. But my grandmother wanted me and my sister to spend the day with her, so off to my hometown I went. Driving in my car on the way to my Grandmother's house there was a Beatles marathon on the radio and every song was about a woman or a mother. On came a song that I know I must have heard before but hearing it then was like hearing it for the first time. It was a song so sad and beautiful and a bit like a lullaby. It was a song written by John Lennon for his mother who had died tragically when he was 17. It made me cry and it made me happy and it made me sad and it made me think about my Mom, and miss my Mom, and mourn my Mom all over again. And it made me want to name my baby girl (I was totally convinced at that moment that I was going to have a girl even though we had not yet conceived) for this song that made me think of my Mom. This beautiful, haunting song that I couldn't get out of my head. So I named her Julia, the title of the beautiful song I heard on the radio on the first Mother's Day I spent without my Mom. She is named for the two most important women in my life, my Mom and my Sister and yet she does not carry their names. Julia Grace. The two most beautiful names I could think of. Julia Grace. I hope she likes the names and the stories behind them when she grows up.