In fact, Claire was actually called Eva for her first four hours of life. But after those four hours, she didn't look like Eva. She looked like Claire. So she was Claire.
I didn't wait till last minute on purpose. I felt the deadline looming at my first hint of morning nausea. And so Brad and I had tossed names around feverishly. We discussed so many that we eventually couldn't remember which ones we liked and which we didn't. We considered everything.
I take that back. We considered almost everything.
One night, a month or so before Claire came, Brad and Grace and my Mom and my Dad and I sat around steaks at a restaurant in Roswell. We had names on the brain, again, and my mom had suggested some ancestral options. She blurted a few names she could remember, and then ended with, "Oh, I know. How about Carrilla?"
I liked it. Loved it.
It felt perfect. It rolled off my tongue:
Carrilla Nevi--
I couldn't finish. Laughter. Too much laughter.
Great-aunt Carrilla will never have a namesake from me. It would be a playground tragedy.
Oh man I can so relate to this right now. Still in the list phase though...
ReplyDeleteHilarious! That would have been very cruel parenting.
ReplyDeleteSomeone that works in our Mexico office named his son Jack Daniel [LastName]. I'm not joking. We asked him if he knew that as a well-known brand of alcohol in the US. He knew. He didn't care.
ReplyDeleteIf she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will! She's like a spider waiting for the kill... I could go on and on. Too funny. Kelly and I still love Bill for future.
ReplyDeletehe he he.
ReplyDeletemaybe we should name this baby carrilla...
or elise or claire or eva or neville...
I have always had two favorite girl names: Bethelle and Rilla (kinda like Carrilla!). I got Bethelle. I still want Rilla. Sports and nicknames are very important in the Rushton family, so with each name, we go through nicknames and what we would yell to them on the court.
ReplyDelete"Go Rilla!!"
That's the end of that name.