What’s in a name?
by Rita Baird

“Abigail ... I mean ... Arianna!”

“Ari ... oh, I mean ... Abigail!”

When I named my first daughter Arianna and my second Abigail, people warned me about choosing names that start with the same letter. They told me that I would spend the rest of my days calling my daughters by the wrong name.

And they were right.

But now, I just laugh and tell people that I would still have that problem even if I had given them different names. My husband’s name is Nathan and my son’s name is Cadence, and I switch their names just as frequently as the girls’ names! Sometimes, I even mix up my son’s name with one of the girls’ names.

So, to ensure myself a cramp-free tongue at the end of the day, I came up with a strategy: I call them all ‘Love.’

“Yes, Love?”

“No, Love.”

“Later, Love.”

It rolls off my tongue like ice cream on my two-year-old’s chin. I figure that, at least, I am not constantly calling my family members by the wrong name. But more importantly, every time I call my husband or my children "Love", I am reminded that they are a gift of love from God. Calling them "Love" is my way of saying, “I cherish you.”

Someday, my grown children will sit around the table and reminisce about their childhood. They will laugh as they recollect all the goofy things that their parents used to do.

“Dad drove us crazy by reading storybooks backwards and upside-down!”

“Yeah, and Mom taught us sayings like, ‘Sit on your bottom and you won’t have a problem!’”

And, maybe, one of them will mention, “Hey, remember how Mom never got our names right?”

I hope then that they will recall the name I used instead; I chose to call them "Love."

Two years ago, MOPS in Pleasanton, CA, took a chance and asked Rita Baird to be in charge of their newsletter. Little did they know that this would reignite a creative fire within her! Now, Rita is writing, painting, and making music, while homeschooling her three children. She is also expecting a new "Love" this fall.