Reading Assignment Twenty One

I am about halfway through Rattled! as of now, and its starting to pick up momentum. Christine is nearing the end of her pregnancy, and her writing has begun to portray a new confidence. She's decided to name her son Jack, after her own mother. It reminded me of where my name comes from. My middle name holds a sentimental value: I was named after my grandmother. It's her first name, and my middle name, but neither of us use it. She goes by her middle name, and I go by my first, but that thread of commonality ties us together. Whenever I think of her name, our name, it always think of her capable hands and warm heart. I'm not close with my grandmother (she lives on the opposite end of the country), but I love her dearly. Our name reminds me of her, it reminds me of her strength and courage; she's been through things I cannot and will not attempt to empathize with. My grandmother lost her older brother when he was seventeen. My older brother is eighteen, and we're very very close. He went off to college, and I really miss him. With divorced parents, he's the only person I've ever lived with full-time. He's not here now, and even though he's gone in one sense, I cannot imagine losing him in the other. My grandmother experienced that loss, yet she's eighty-one and a firecracker. She bounced back, got married, and had four kids. One is named after that lost brother. She found a strength she didn't know she had, just like Christine. Christine's pregnancy started out as shocking and scary, but over the course of those nine months, she's become this strong, independent young woman. She's having a baby! By herself! It's triumphant. Christine is triumphant.

Who were you named after?