I almost always listen to NPR when I'm driving, except when I'm on the way home from work. Since I leave in the middle of the day (and actually I start full time on Monday - the other part time teacher is leaving), NPR plays classical music so I usually switch stations. Sometimes I listen to the Christian radio station, and they play the "name game" when I'm on my way home. I think it's actually pretty cheesy (most of the stuff on there is!), but for some reason I still listen to it sometimes. Each day they have a name, and if you have a child with that name as their first or middle name and you're the 4th caller, you get to talk about your child on the radio.
The other day they announced that it was time for the name game and I started to change stations. My curiosity got the best of me though, and I wanted to hear what name it would be. I've never thought this before, but I thought, "What if it's Ada? No, it will never be Ada....not common enough." Well, wouldn't you know, it was Elizabeth! For a second I seriously thought about calling to talk about both of my little Elizabeths, but of course I didn't. I mean, what would I say? They do this whole thing on the radio because they like to make everybody feel good about their wonderful children and happy families. Nobody wants to hear about a child who died.
I did decide to keep listening, and the woman that called in talked about her 8-year-old Lauren Elizabeth. She's their only biological child, and they have 3 younger adopted daughters from Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Russia. If you know me then you know how much I want to raise my children to learn about the planet that they live on and not be like the youth at my church who can't figure out what they're looking at when they see a map of Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. (I'm not making that up! This one 7th grader kept turning the paper upside down because she couldn't figure out what it was a map of!) Anyway, I was glad to hear that this other Elizabeth who was talked about on the radio is loving to her international sisters. It must be a good name. :) The whole thing left me feeling sad though, because as this mom went on about her wonderful daughter, I realized that I will never know what kind of personality Ada had. I've had this thought many times before, of course, but it was just another reminder.
The other day they announced that it was time for the name game and I started to change stations. My curiosity got the best of me though, and I wanted to hear what name it would be. I've never thought this before, but I thought, "What if it's Ada? No, it will never be Ada....not common enough." Well, wouldn't you know, it was Elizabeth! For a second I seriously thought about calling to talk about both of my little Elizabeths, but of course I didn't. I mean, what would I say? They do this whole thing on the radio because they like to make everybody feel good about their wonderful children and happy families. Nobody wants to hear about a child who died.
I did decide to keep listening, and the woman that called in talked about her 8-year-old Lauren Elizabeth. She's their only biological child, and they have 3 younger adopted daughters from Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Russia. If you know me then you know how much I want to raise my children to learn about the planet that they live on and not be like the youth at my church who can't figure out what they're looking at when they see a map of Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. (I'm not making that up! This one 7th grader kept turning the paper upside down because she couldn't figure out what it was a map of!) Anyway, I was glad to hear that this other Elizabeth who was talked about on the radio is loving to her international sisters. It must be a good name. :) The whole thing left me feeling sad though, because as this mom went on about her wonderful daughter, I realized that I will never know what kind of personality Ada had. I've had this thought many times before, of course, but it was just another reminder.
1 comment:
That's sad. There have been opportunities for me to talk about Gregory (not quite that public) and I kept quiet so as not to kill the mood of everyone around me. I do this mostly with strangers yet sometimes I just open up because I want so badly to talk about my little boy too and I'm tired of protecting peoples' feelings when it hurts me. I love the name Elizabeth. If it wasn't the name of my grandma, mother and sister I would consider using it myself!
Post a Comment