What's in a Name?

When we found out Gwyneth was a girl we had already decided on her middle name. It was a no-brainer. When I think of my daughter and who I want her to be when she grows up I look to my role models: Martha was an impractical middle name (and too predictable for anyone who knows me), Celine is too diva-y and Jo was already taken, but Denise? Now that we could work with.

My mom is the strongest, most caring, thoughtful woman in all the land. She has friends from all ends of the earth and  I am one of the lucky two who get the privilege of calling her my Mom. I wasn't always aware of just how awesome my mom was until I got older. I thought everyone else's parents put together lavish birthday parties with bouncy houses, yard-size twister and gold fish as take away gifts. I thought all Moms went to every sporting event and ceremony. I thought all Moms supported you in your life-changing decisions, celebrated you whenever possible and are a shoulder to cry on. But apparently this is unusual. This was revealed to me when everyone kept telling me, "Lauren, you're so lucky your Mom is like that." or "Lauren, you're Mom is soooo awesome." All I could think was, well, duh, isn't your Mom like that too?

She has a way of making you feel like you are the only person on the planet that matters. Through all the crap bad stuff (edited for Mom's approval) life has dealt her, cancer included, she not only conquered all of it, but came out the other end stronger and wiser.

So as I go through this treacherous road of motherhood, one of the first things I could do in my quest to become as good a mother as my own is giving my daughter my mother's name. This shows her just how highly we think of her Grandma and how I can only hope she will be as thoughtful, caring and as strong a woman as her Grandmother. I hope that her middle name will serve as a reminder of the woman she can and will be someday.