What's in a Name

Dear Little Ones,

By now, you obviously know your names, Marshall and .....(sorry, still working as of this time). You may never have given any thought to your name, or maybe you have. Maybe you love your name, or hate it, or could care less. Either way, even though you did not have a say in the matter, I want you to know that coming up with your names was a decision that was more difficult than deciding what to order from Taco Bell. In fact, it was tougher than the decision to have you 2 in the first place.

The story of Marshall's name is a pretty simple to tell. It comes down to 2 points:

 1. It all started when I was a starry-eyed 10 year old who could not get enough of my favorite football team, the St. Louis Rams. They made a trade for a young, stud running back named Marshall Faulk. He instantly became my favorite player, and not just because he was an incredible athlete, but because he was one of the smartest to ever play the game. He still is my favorite Ram, and I would love to tell you more about it, anytime. So yes, I decided then, that I loved the name.

 2. The name Marshall can be used for so many bad-ass phrases. The first one, when you were born, I could use "There's a new Marshall in town". Get ready, because every time we enter a new town, you will hear this again, and again. Other phrases I will use excessively include:

• When you tear it up on the basketball court: "Court Marshalled"
• When you burn someone good with an insult: "Fire Marshalled"
• Whenever you bend the rules a little to get things done "Marshall Law"
• When you paint a nice painting, I can say "Marshall Arts"

And not to worry, I will come up with many others. To get your Mom on board with naming our first born son Marshall, all I did was plant the seed of the name in her head, and then watered it all the time, by constantly saying it. And just like that, neither one of us could ever picture our son not having that name. We tried some other names for sure. You were nearly Daniel Jr., but a friend told me I would have to think highly of myself to do that, and your Mom's greatest fear has always been a Big Dan-Little Dan father-son name. (Seriously though, who would call be Big Dan?).

Now on to the name of our little girl. I did not pick out a name for my little girl at an early age. There have always been names I like, and the right name can make a girl go up a few points in the prettiness scale. And your Mom has liked names throughout her life, and when she was a little girl, she liked the name Elizabeth. Then that name got old, and she went through several others, kind of like a kid at Chuck E Cheese who keeps jumping from game to game as they get bored, and wasting all of my tokens in the meantime.

Trying to decide on this name for you has been a very long and delicate process. One second we will like a name, and then several reasons can make it go away, such as:

• We met a dog with the same name
• The name doesn't look right on a customized jersey
• We saw a loser on TV with the same name
• We saw a stripper on TV with the same name
• We know a loser with the same name
• We know a stri......nevermind
• Someone we know knows  a loser with the same name
• The name might not be a "Proper name for an adult" - your Mom's phrase 
• There is no good middle name for that name (And even though it would be nice to do the mother's maiden name as a middle name thing, your Mom's maiden name is a no go)
• That name is too long, with a middle name and your long last name (sorry about that)
• The nicknames for that name aren't very good
• The name is too traditional
• The name is too trendy
• There's a song with that name, and the song sucks
• The name isn't meaningful enough
• And finally, your Mom has said the name too much and is now tired of it

Ok, so we are not quite sure what your name will be yet (although we are 90%). We are just being extra careful, because we love you so much. And Marshall, we love you so much that we knew instantly what your name was. (See what I did there? Classic Dad move). I can assure you that a lot of thought has gone into both of your names, and I will definitely be glad when we have a name on that birth certificate, and all this deliberating is over.

That smiling face

And hey, take it from me, if you don't like your name, you can always just go by your initials anyway (Just kidding, your Mom doesn't like initials for names. Also, I don't think she realizes what she is saying when she tells me that). When I hear the name Marshall, the football player is no longer the first person to pop into my mind, but instead it is the smiling face of my little buddy. And soon we will know for sure what name will put my smiling little girl's face in my mind. No matter where your name came from, or who else has it, you both own them once they are yours. Hopefully you like them, and if not, then too bad because I am done discussing it. At least you always can take comfort knowing your name went through a grueling selection process, that caused me to have an even bigger forehead.

Thanks again for reading,


Love,
Dad