Lots of people have commented on the loveliness of Lila Bryony's name. Looking at her as I write this, it seems inevitable that she'd get a lyrical moniker.
Following Jewish tradition, we wanted to honor the memory of dear friends and family, and at the same time capture some newness that would be hers and hers alone.
We’ve had the basic concept behind her middle name for seven months, when Brian, Cheryl's best friend from high school, died in May. They were very close, and his life meant a great deal to her. I'm sure she'll write more about him some day.
For her first name, we made a list of 60-odd names over the course of the pregnancy, and we got down to twelve rolling into the birth. To the surprise of some, we paused there. We wanted to meet the baby, spend a little time together, and see which of those names felt right.
Over the first few days, it became clear what that "right" name was.
I like the dark beauty of the simple translation (Lila is Hebrew for "night"), and to my ears, that the word contains tonal aspects of the names of both my grandmothers: My father’s mother (Frances) had the first name Dora, and my mom’s mom (Ida) had the Hebrew name Chaya.
And then on Monday, Cheryl found a silly Sesame Street song going through her head: "La La La La Lemon." David Crafts, one of my oldest friends from Atlanta, had played us cuts of the "For The Kids" CD when we visited him in Atlanta a couple years ago, and he thought that song in particular was wonderfully funny. David died back in August 2005, and he’s been in our thoughts pretty often since then.
Cheryl sang a bit of the song, and we knew that we were done. La La La La … Lila. I think David would have loved that such a silly song would become a permanent part of our lives. |
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