Joe

Today, the boys and I met a man named Joe. He said that he was thinking of changing his name, because he hears “Hey Joe!” often, but they aren’t talking to him. He was considering the names Aloysius or Ticonderoga. He told us this several times, and he asked our names too. He said L should run for President with a name like that and when he does he will vote for him. He said he didn’t know people were still naming children H, and it was a good solid name. Mary, too, he said was a good name, the names of both his grandmothers and his mother.


There is a lot in a name, isn’t there? People laugh when I say the names of my 3 brothers, and I admit, I sometimes repeat them for effect. My father’s name fits nicely with theirs as well, and my sister M fits nicely with mine. I always save my sister N and my mother for last, and follow up with “we don’t know where they came from.” They are not strange names, or uncommon, they just don’t fit with the THEME. If you are trying to do the math, that’s 8. Two parents….six kids. Naming six kids is a big job, and I think that when it came to me (#5) and my little brother they gave up and went to basics. It’s okay, though, I like my name…like Joe said, it’s a good name.

D and I only had two children to name. We had an easy time picking out the name Jillian for a girl; I should have known it was too easy and that a girl was not in the cards. We really struggled with a boy’s name for our first child. If I’d had my way he would have been name Paul, but D shot that down along with most of the other names I’d suggested. We finally agreed on L, and he should run for president.

With our second, I wanted to name him Martin. But D suggested a name I never expected him to like, so we easily agreed. H is a traditional name, but it has become uncommon. H gets a lot of attention for his name. Usually something like, “that was my Uncle’s name, but of course he passed away 50 years ago” or they think they mishear and ask him to repeat it 5 times.

Joe asked him to repeat it several times, partly because he “didn’t know that people still named children H” and partly because he was hard of hearing. Joe was 89. L and I went over to thank Joe for his service in WWII (it was on his hat). Joe was in the Navy, and had been shot twice. One bullet went right through his body, and the other was taken from his leg. A confirmed “old bachelor” he called himself but assumed that D, must be a handsome fellow to have such good looking boys and a pretty wife (the light was dim).

When we said our goodbyes to Joe and went to the car, I couldn’t help the lump in my throat. I like the name Joe; it’s a good name, a hero’s name.