I realize that blogs can become meeting places and somewhat chat areas but mine is not such a place. It is just a place for me to put down whatever is on my mind and hopefully keep my imagination and my writing skills honed. The spell checker seems to be malfunctioning. I noticed that the other day and even DELIBERATLY misspelled a word for it to check. It didn't catch it so if you find errors, please be kind but I would like to know.

Mother and I were talking and remembering, as we are wont to do, this morning when I stopped to visit after Mass. Somehow, we got on to the naming of Randy. I said that I really remembered that. It came up because we were talking about the Shea's. Bridget Shea, our cousin, daughter of Johnny Bill and Eileen O'Connor Shea, was due about the same time as Randy. Mother and Dad had also chosen Bridget as a name if he had been a girl.

Perhaps it was a family decision, as Randy's name was supposed to be. I remember all of us sitting in the living room, going through baby name books and finally deciding that we liked Randy, though the majority really felt that it should be more formal, like Randall, because we thought that Ran Dee Dee Lee would be a little much. So much for a democracy. Dad said that we were naming him Randy and Randy it would be. He won.

A similar discussion had been held when Matthew was born a couple of years earlier. We all agreed on Matthew. We wanted him middle initial to be J because Dad's father, Grandpa Deeley, was known as MJ by lots of people. Dad went through the name book that gave names and their definition or source. He found Jed which means hand as in farm hand and he decided on that because Dad liked to garden. We couldn't talk him out of that one either and Matthew Jed he became.

Grandma Deeley did not like the name Matthew. She knew someone that she just detested with that name and we found it very amusing because she would always say, " now what is his name again. Mark or Mike. He is such a sweet boy."

Enjoy your evening.

Mary