My Kids

My eldest, a son, was born and raised in the Philippines. A good kid. Typical good, respectful Filipino kid who does not talk back to his elders even if it's just explaining or defending himself. He does what he's asked right away and without questions. My husband chose his name - Lennart - a Swedish derivative of Leonard. Lennart Nilsson, a microphotographer was a favorite of his. That's where he got the name. Somehow we dropped the middle name Nilsson. Looking back now, I wished I had chosen "Edward" as his middle name. Lennart Edward. It has a nice ring to it. Because Lennart does not have a middle name, my Dad's family name sort of became his middle name. His initials, therefore, are LIV, as in "live".

Before Christina I miscarried twice. One would have been 20 years old now. I named the baby Ollie. I do not know if Ollie was a girl or a boy. If she was a girl she would have been named Olivia; if a boy, he would have been named Oliver. Ollie would have been born in the month of February, the year when Oliver North made front page news.

The second baby would have been 19 years old now. I named the baby Jules. Again, I do not know it's sex. It Jules was a boy, his name would have been Julian, if a girl, Julie-Ann. Jules would have been born on the same day I was born - July 5. We would have celebrated our birthdays .

My daughter was born 12 years after Lennart. If I had my way, I would have named her Veronica or Genevieve. Probably, Genevieve so she would have the initials GIV, as in "give". My husband chose her name, Christina. He said it is common enough as a Filipino, American, Greek, French, and whatever-other-nationality name. She was given the middle name Maryse [kinda like my name in short - Mariss]. But Maryse has a different pronounciation. It is more "Mary's" than Mariss. So you see why I would have liked my son to have his father's first name.

Christina turned 18 yesterday. I was "old" when she was born. I often wondered if I would live long enough to celebrate her 10th birthday, and her 20th, and her 30th. Right now, I am so thankful for my kids, for my husband, and for my life.