Our son's full name is Harrison Ottley White. Let me tell you how we chose it.
After my 20-week pregnancy ultrasound
showed we were expecting a son the search for names ensued. I had
lists and lists of boy names which dwindled quickly because Jeremy
applied his power of veto to most of them. From the get-go he was
very much in favor of the name Harrison. It was a name he had always
liked. I liked Harrison, too. It's a fine name. But as my womb
grew to accommodate the boy kicking inside me, I kept coming back to
a different one - the name Ottley.
During the year Jeremy and I met, began
dating, got engaged, planned a wedding and got hitched I worked for
two guys, both named Tim. Tim Cook and Tim Ottley. Most everyone
referred to Tim Ottley as just Ottley, so I did as well. People had
lots of different names for Tim Cook – tim, tc, tmc, mr. cook,
bigness, mother f*cker – but I called him Cook. (that
last one was a term of endearment used by one crazy-lady business
associate from NYC. She spoke to me in the same loving manner, “What
the f*ck, Mother F***er! Where the f*ck is that Mother F***er, Tim
Cook?!” It always made my day to transfer her calls.) So
I worked for Cook and Ottley.
A
funny side note: Tim Cook had a daughter named Rachel, Tim Ottley
had a wife named Rachel, and they both had an assistant named Rachel
(that would be me). There were a lot of
Tims and a lot of Rachels.
I
loved both Cook and Ottley. I still do. They were great to work
for, made me feel like part of their family, taught me so much (both
professionally and personally) and opened my eyes to some wild and
crazy things. Things like flying first class, shipping luggage
via overnight FedEx because it was too much hassle to carry, being in
charge of getting a band, crew and gear to NYC during a
blizzard, being on a tour bus, being back stage, being the only
non-naked female at a party. But those are stories for another time.
That
was a special time for me because I was falling in love with my
husband. But falling in love with him was all the more fun because I
was so very happy with my life and felt fulfilled in my job. At
work, during that year, Cook and Ottley left an impression on me. So
it only makes sense that I would want to name my son after one of
them!
Right?
What? Are you thinking that's kind of
weird?
I suppose, looking back on it now,
maybe you're right. But at the time I did not think it was odd at
all. I just really, really liked the name Ottley! I was adamant about
calling my son Ottley and no amount of veto power was going to remove
it from my list. While Jeremy and I were still in name negotiations
my girlfriends would ask which names we were considering and I made
no qualms about replying,
“I really like the name Ottley”
“Ott...wait...what?”
“Ottley. O-t-t-l-e-y.”
“Where does that come from?”
“It's the last name of a friend I
used to work with.”
Then the responses would vary...
“Oh. How nice.”
“Interesting.”
“Cute.
You could call him O.”
It
never crossed my mind to wonder what others might think of my choice.
No one - not my friends, not my coworkers, not my husband, not my
family – commented that it is unusual to name your son after “a
guy I used to work with”. If they had any strange thoughts about
it, they kept them quiet. Truthfully, if anyone had spoken up, it
wouldn't have made a difference. It simply came down to this:
I
had my heart set on calling my son Ottley.
I
certainly didn't worry over how Tim Ottley's wife might react to the
idea. (How
terrible of me! Can I claim baby brain for my complete
self-centeredness?) If
I had taken the time to think about it I may have realized the slight
awkwardness. Can you imagine Ottley saying to his wife, “Hey
Honey, remember my old assistant? She wants to name her son
after me.” Oh man! Putting myself in her shoes, if Jeremy came home and said that to me, I
would definitely wonder what in the world had transpired between them
to make her want to name her son after my husband! Is my husband
worthy of that honor? Absolutely! But I would still question it!
What wife wouldn't?
Was Tim Ottley worthy of having my son
named after him? Without a doubt. He is a man who, for many
reasons, is more than deserving of that honor! But,
as it turns out, things aren't always as simple as having your “heart
set” on something. What
God showed me when I was lying in the dark that night is this: I
didn't simply like the name Ottley and I didn't simply name my son
after “the friend I used to work with”.
Harrison
Ottley White was named with purpose. And he was named to honor someone else
too.
Someone
Harrison would need. Someone who would care about him enough to want
the best for him, to be the best for him. Someone who would
become our angel, sent to us in times of trouble. Someone who would
show us the light.
God
told me “this is why you named him Ottley” because he was
reassuring me that all along, before Harrison was even born, he would
hold our son dear. And all along, before Harrison was even born, he knew
who our son would be and the difficulties he would face. And all
along, before Harrison was even born, God had the perfect person in
place to help him overcome his struggles. And all along, Harrison
would share that person's name.
"This is why you named him Ottley...because it is Rachel
Ottley (Tim's wife)...your
lovely occupational therapist friend...whom I have perfectly gifted...before Harrison was even born...to help him and you through this hardship".
Even
now I weep at God's amazing, incomprehensible, provision.
He
is so gracious. He is so good. I am so thankful.
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