Last March, a friend was contemplating two names for her baby. Her first choice was Mary. Her second choice was the ever-so-sucky Katherine. She asked for my opinion on what my experience was with the name Mary, and my response is below. To the right is the very beautiful, fingers in her mouth, sticky hair, baby-sweet smelling Mary. This recent photo inspired me to pull out this email:Why I Love My Own Name
Mary is a wonderful name, and Mary is everyone's best friend, favorite sister, or saint of a mom.
Mary can play touch football and isn't afraid to get dirty, she makes a mean martini, and she'll sit next to you and blow your nose when your ex-boyfriend of 7 years marries a girl he's known for 3 weeks.
Mary makes excellent cookies.
Mary can easily transition from a challenging week as a resident neurosurgeon, to dinner with the family in her favorite pair of jeans.
Mary has an amazing laugh.
Mary will whisper in your ear and make you giggle and push you out of the way when she sees a softball headed for your face.
Mary has good hair.
And on the playground, when a big boy yells "HAIRY MARY FAIRY!!", she has no trouble pulling him off of the see-saw and making him eat dirt.
When old people hear that your name is Mary, they smile and grab your hands and sing you songs from their youth, and it's very sweet.
Everyone can spell Mary (except for Indian tech support guys, who spell it Marry, but that can change in 20 years).
Every language has a Mary. You get called Mare, Marí, Maria, Mariooch, Marushka, and oh, when those English boys call your name, it makes your toes curl. Woo!
The incredibly popular and beautiful crown princess of Denmark is an Australian named Mary, who met the Danish prince at a bar.
No one ever forgets your name. (Seriously).
Mary is humble, and solid, and kind, and timeless.
Katherine has limp hair and her eyes are too close together, and she needs years of therapy from being Catherine, Kathryn, Katie, Cathy, Kathie and Kate. Katherine is thrice-divorced and lives in a van, down by the river.
Mary is the Mother of God. I don't know what's more compelling. I win.
(Sorry, Sonya. I love you!)
For it was Mary, Mary, plain as any name can be
But with propriety, society will say “Marie”
But it was Mary, Mary, long before the fashions came
And there is something there that sounds so fair
It’s a grand old name
"Grand Old Name", George M. Cohan
5 comments:
Baby Mary looks just like her brother.
My dear Grandmothers name was Mary. I love the name Mary.
I enjoyed your post Mary. :)
oh my...should've asked you before i named my dd catherine aka cate....LOL >>>>>
Sonya, I just laughed so hard I think I ruptured something...
WAIT -- I know that girl!! Thanks for making my babe famous, and better yet, thanks for helping/inspiring me on the name. It suits her so well. Katherine is not altogether out of the race, just out of the race for this baby (sonya, I think Cate is a beautiful name).
Mary is already checking some points off your awesomeness list, such as:
"Mary is everyone's best friend"
(she is already one of my very best baby-friends!)
"favorite sister" (her brother would agree)
"isn't afraid to get dirty" (definitely not acred of bodily fluids, let's just leave it at that)
"Mary has an amazing laugh." (oh YEAH, her laugh, her smile, her giggle... amazing!)
"Mary will whisper in your ear and make you giggle" (how did you know? is it because of her name??)
"Mary has good hair." (heck yes -- just look at that picture!!)
"When old people hear that her name is Mary, they smile and grab her hands and it's very sweet." (that they do -- no songs yet)
"Everyone can spell Mary" (um, my Mom had some trouble -- but she was an Ocean away at the time, so it's excusable).
"No one ever forgets her name." (truen, so far!).
"Mary is humble, and solid, and kind, and timeless."
(she is the most no-nonsense little piece of magic I have ever met!!)
Thanks for that email, made me cry then and makes me ooze with love for my daughter now, on my first day back to work...
Love,
Oana
acred == afraid
truen == true
(sorry for the spelling, I am at work and missing my girl)
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