When I was a little girl I asked my parents how they came up with my name? They told me that I was named after my dad's nephew BOYD LYNN ( also my cousin ). I don't think I ever knew why they chose him to name me after? He was older than me and didn't live near us, therefore I didn't get to know him very well. I liked the name Lynn though and so I was satisfied. Now when Jeff and I were expecting our children, we tried to come up with names we loved and ones also that was named after someone that we thought the world of. That's hard to do when you have so many good friends and family.
Before I was married but had moved away from home, my sister-in-law Shirley had her first baby. They named her Cristina Lynn after me. I was so humbled by that to know that I had a name sake and for some reason it has always made me want to live the type of life that she would be proud of. Now this week Cristina Lynn just had her first baby and it is a girl too. She named her Hannah Marian after her grandmother ( my mom) who had already passed on. I can't tell you what a neat feeling that was when I heard that. Now that Hannah Marian is here, I feel like a part of my mom has come back. I know my mom would have been tickled, actually I am sure she is!
I actually have one more niece who is named after me Erica Lynn, she is another reason that I try to live up to my name. Really it is an honor to share my name with such wonderful people. I talked to a dear friend a while ago that I lost touch with many years ago. As we talked and tried to catch up on all that had transpired throughout those years that we missed, she surprised me and told me that they named their youngest daughter after me Meagan Lynn.
Now I am not telling you this to brag, but to remind all of us that we share names and lives with many of our loved ones and I think it is a great reminder to us to live the best life that we can. To live up to those names that mean so much. I love my nieces and nephews. I have tried hard throughout the years to keep in touch with them and at least let them know that their Aunt Lynn loves them. As there gets to be more and more of them, it is getting harder and harder, but I am crazy about them.
So tonight I will leave you with a few quotes that remind us of this very subject. Thanks dear friends for the great lives that you live and for your examples to me.
"FROM OUR ANCESTORS COME OUR NAMES, BUT FROM OUR VIRTUES OUR HONORS"
"Our names are labels, plainly printed on the bottled essence of our past behavior." ~Logan Pearsall Smith
"OUR GREATES RESPONSIBILITY IS TO BE GOOD ANCESTORS" ~Jonas Salk
