What is in a name?

I just had a friend find out that she is having a son, so happy for her. That being said she went on about how hard it is to come up with boy names. I agree. Our son's name is Jackson Edward. The first name came down to Jackson or James, we were torn and finally decided on Jackson.

The middle name was a little harder. With Emma we used the middle name Sue, it is my Mom's name, she means the world to me and I really wanted to honor her. I guess in the end I was hoping that using the name would always help me remember the type of Mom I wanted to be. She is a wonderful mother and I am so glad we choose to use her name.

Jackson's middle name came down to Steven, Don or Edward. Steven is Andrew's Dad and he is a wonderful man full of character and love. I have never seen a man love their son like Steven does, he is proud of Andrew and shares those feelings with him. He and Andrew's Mom made him the person he is today, for that I am forever thankful. Steve's integrity and love shine through in his life. Don is my father's name. He is the type of man I wish my son to be. He is strong, a hard worker and loves us all unconditionally. All my dad does he does for the three girls in his life. He built his business from the ground up and is just overall amazing. He plays hard and loves harder.

Edward won in the end.

The reason for this was twofold.

The first being that Andrew and I don't know that we will have another child and we were not comfortable choosing between my Dad and his. When I choose Sue it was all me, looking back I really should have let Andrew have more insight as his Mom's name would have been just as fitting.

Second there was a man in my life named Edward that meant the world to me and also one in Andrew's life.

Edward Lynn was my grandfather. He was wonderful. He worked his way through law school to become a big wig at General Dynamics. He was loving, kind and had a great work ethic. He was a perfect grandfather, he loved and played with us. He was one of the smartest man I had ever met. My life was blessed so much by him.

Edward Albert was Andrew's Godfather. He was so wonderful. He was kind and loving, supportive and funny. He was quick with a hug and I never ever heard him say an unkind word. I can not do Eddie justice because I only met him a couple of times, but I know how much he and his wife Joyce meant to Andrew.

Both Edwards were loving, Christian men, they were family men, great husbands, friends and support. They were both hard workers and full of life. We felt like this was a fitting middle name for Jackson as this is the kind of man we want him to be.

So to answer the age old question. What is in a name? A whole lot for our family.