"You Don't Say"

Sarah Adeline Bowman Malone

June 16, 1887 - March 5, 1941

     I have it on good authority that my grandmother wasn't thrilled when my parents decided to name me Julie.  My cousin, David, had arrived only a week before me and as the story goes my Grandma said  "David and Julie . . .why did you pick those names? Sounds like the Nixon children." I think that in time she grew to accept my name, maybe.  She did call me Brenda about half the time - never Norma or Cathy - it was always Brenda. Maybe she never warmed up to my name after all.

     When Joel and I were expecting our first child we spent a lot of time considering names.  It was Joel who came up with the name Owen and I loved it immediately.  Once Owen was born it seemed to fit him perfectly too.  What did Grandma say about his name?  "Owen.  Now, how come you picked the name Owen?  You know, I once knew a six fingered man named Owen."  In all fairness the man had four fingers and two thumbs on one hand but she'd made her point, she wouldn't have named any child Owen. 

    And then there was Sarah.  Way back in my early twenties I wrote in my journal that someday I wanted to have a dark-haired dark-eyed little girl and I wanted to name her Sarah.  I have always loved the name Sarah*. And what did Grandma have to say about my daughter's name? "Sarah . . . you don't say. Well, you know I like the name Sarah."  Sarah was her mother's name (Sarah Adeline Bowman) and it was the name she gave her second daughter (Sarah Catherine).  I had picked a winner.

*Joel and I both love the name "Catherine" but we knew from the night we saw "Kiss Me Kate" at the Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 1993  that we couldn't name a daughter Catherine because he wanted to spell it with a "K" and call her "Kate."  My middle name is Catherine with a "C".  Some divides are just too great.