I knew from the moment I found out I was pregnant that we were going to have a boy, but, of course, we couldn’t agree on a boy name. I combed through every author and literary character I could think of to come up with a name worthy of my son, but Chris vetoed all of them. I suggested names like Atticus or Sawyer, Fitz or Twain, and Chris said no to all of them. Chris went for more traditional names, and for each of them, I could think of that student who would forever be associated with the name, so I exercised my vetoes.

Every day someone would ask me what we were naming him, and most asked if he’d be a “Junior”. I always replied that his last name was Chris’s, so why should Chris get all the other names, too. For fun, I started thinking of ways to name him after me. I came up with some goofy names, but out of that silliness came “Grayson”.

His name means something for us because he carries a part of both of us with his name. My middle name is Grace; Chris’s middle name is Edward. Now, our son carries our middle names, and both of our middle names have a family history.

Grayson is the fourth generation of Shoo-men to carry the name of Edward. I’m already starting to see some of the Shoo-men characteristics in him (including his grumpy face), so this seems appropriate.

My great-grandmother’s middle name was Grace; my dad once described her as weighing 98 pounds and all of that her heart of gold. She was a teacher, and decades after she retired, her students still remembered her. She made an impact on people. I’m proud to share her name, and I hope my son is, too.

Granted, none of this really matters because he’s forever going to be my little Bug.