What's in a name?

What's in a name? Apparently quite a lot which is why part of me is sad that I have a record of naming exactly zero of my children! Ok I guess that isn't fair, I have picked all the middle names. But...I wanted this name to be special, to mean something, to honor people who have had an impact on my life, or how I choose to live my life...whether known or not. So without further ado...our last child will be named: Gillian Elena Harper Morse

So how did I come up with it, and why did I break my own rule of never giving a child two middle names?! Here is the breakdown:

Favorite actress + favorite teacher + favorite author

I'll begin at the beginning!

Gillian. My favorite actress is Gillian Anderson and has been since I was about 10 years old. While her acting skills are great, that isn't why she's my favorite or why I chose to attach her name to my new daughter. I admire her for her humanitarianism, especially causes that support children who have been dealt a bad hand (like my kids) and for her work with the NF Network. We are both the big sister of a brother with NF which is not a very common, or at least very commonly known, disease. I identified with her on that level and was always really impressed with her willingness to be a voice for a disease that doesn't get a lot of attention. She uses her "powers" for good, and those are the people I admire most, who I look up to, who I would want my children to emulate.

Elena. This name is awesome because it is my future daughter's birth name, but also it is a name I've carried for almost 20 years hoping to give it to a daughter one day. I grew up in private school until 10th grade when I attended public school for the first time...in inner city Chicago. Being quite green to the ways of the world thanks to being sheltered in my religious school bubble, I didn't quite know what to expect. But, it turned out that I loved public school, and I especially loved my English class, taught by a very intelligent, very kind teacher named Elena. I looked forward to that class every single day and she taught me to love reading. That alone marked a big turning point for me and to this day I want to read anything and everything I can get my hands on. I'm also grateful that all these years later I can call that influential teacher my friend.

Harper. One of the books I read during that 10th grade English class was To Kill A Mockingbird. It is my absolute favorite book ever, I have read it 25+ times, I will continue to read it at least once a year until forever, and I may have developed an unhealthy obsession with learning everything there is to know about the amazing author, Harper Lee. ❤️

So there you have it! My kid has a name! Now all I have to do is get her HOME!