We all see it. Those that are younger than us, and for me, that’s about half the population, seem to think they are invincible. Does the idea come from their limited life experiences? Maybe so. Check out this Wii Bowl 300 score from my little friend Watson. Way to go Watson!
My daughter Elena celebrated her eleventh birthday today. Long ago we started a tradition in our family of breakfast in bed for the one who we’re celebrating. And though we have cake most birthdays, the breakfast event is a do not miss activity.
Elena turns eleven
While I had the cameras out, snapping photos in one hand and video in the other (it feels as awkward as it sounds), I thought about how many millions of pictures are taken each day of cakes and candles, presents and pajamas. The very special things that are happening in front of me seem very ordinary when I think about the event repeating itself over and over again across the globe. Yet it’s the connection we have with each other that makes it special, makes it more meaningful than the waitstaff singing at the table next to us in our favorite restaurant.
The more I learn about the world, the bigger and smaller it seems. Bigger in the sense that my influence on world events and on the totality of knowledge is very, very small. Smaller in the sense that the influence I can have on those around me, friend and foe, is very significant. Today was an opportunity to influence Elena, to bless her and put her in a place of honor because she is special to all of us. The pictures we take can be rather ordinary, but those images serve as a reminder, a snapshot in time , of the importance of others in our lives.
I’ve been thinking about names following the recent political season. We had two candidates for president, John McCain and Barack Obama. Had McCain won, the United States would have carried on the tradition of very ordinary first names. Those in my lifetime have been Richard, Gerald, Jimmy, Ronald, George, Bill and George. I thought it was quite funny when Obama joked that his parents must not have expected him to run for president, otherwise they would have named him differently.
I have to say that Tracey and I thoroughly enjoyed naming our children. We talked about names even before we knew we were having children. I think we owned two or three books on names alone. My favorite website ever for exploring names is the NameVoyager, although it was not around for our first born.
We knew that we didn’t want a top ten name; we also didn’t want a name too obscure. In the end, here’s what we chose:
And no, we’re not in search of another name. 
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