Everett: brave as a wild boar | Jeremy: appointed by God
I've loved dreaming up baby names for as long as I can remember.
Seriously, as a little girl, I had a running list of names hidden away in a cabinet. Every time I thought of or heard a new potential moniker for my far-into-the-future children, I'd pull out the crinkled paper and scribble it under a column, boy or girl.
So not surprisingly, always at my prompting, Greg and I had discussed baby names basically since we started dating. And since our journey to baby took a bit of extra time (and thought! and planning!) thanks to infertility, we had several top contenders narrowed down before I even became pregnant.
And yet our favorites from before we were expecting, to when I was pregnant with Delilah, to when I was pregnant with Everett, were always in flux. Mostly because I was always throwing new options into the mix.
One name that I heard (can't remember when or where!) and loved several years ago was Everett. But when I presented the idea to Greg he was firmly and unbudgingly in the VETO category. He didn't like it but he didn't really have a reason why. Men never really have a good reason when they exercise their baby name veto, do they? Haha. But I think if memory serves me correctly he actually thought I made the name up. He had never heard it before.
But I continued to love the name and over the years, whenever we would talk baby names, I'd bring it up again. I just kept name dropping Everett every chance I got!
My diligence apparently paid off because slowly but surely I softened Greg's initial impression of the name... And then one day, while pregnant with our son, Greg came to me and said he had a confession to make:
He liked the name Everett!
Needing to create yet another new work password, Greg used the name in conjunction with our daughter's and decided that they do sound good together after all.
By the time our son was born, Everett had been in the No. 1 position for a couple months at least, but we prefer to wait to bestow a name until after our kiddo makes their debut, so we can literally put a name to a face. (We did still have a few strong contenders in the running, including Sawyer and Asher.) But due to the sudden and emergent nature of both Delilah and Everett's arrivals, they didn't have names right away, much to the dismay of nurses and birth-certificate-collecting hospital volunteers. Everett did get a name sooner than Delilah though; he was only nameless for about a day. Once Greg and I had some calm, quality alone time together with our son we were able to confidently agree on what we would call him: Everett Jeremy Thilgen.
So that's the story of Everett, but what about Jeremy?
I have long known that if I ever had a son, his middle name would be Jeremy. I don't recall exactly when I decided this. I'm not sure there was a crystal clear moment of decision, but more of an organic sort of knowing in my heart after the passing of my brother when I was 16 years old, that I would use my potential future son's middle name as a way to honor his memory. Fortunately, my husband was completely and unquestionably on board with this idea. He immediately agreed to it and never once suggested anything to the contrary, which I think is incredibly supportive and generous and worth noting given the fact that Greg never knew my brother. But I do believe that if Greg had known Jeremy, he would feel proud to have his son carry forward his name.
Kind hearted. Fun loving. Adventure seeking (brave!). Silly sense of humor. Musically gifted. Genuinely intelligent (deeper than book smarts). Loyal friend and steadfast companion. Well loved and loved well.
This is how I would describe my brother. And these are characteristics I'd wish for Everett to embody and embrace.
Yesterday was Jeremy's birthday. He would have been 45 years old. I like to imagine he sneaks away from what assuredly is a great party in heaven to peek in on us from time to time. That he has seen his new baby nephew. And that he is proud to have Everett be his (middle) namesake.
I know I am.
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Photos featured are sneak peeks from Everett's "newborn" photo shoot this past Thursday, when he was just two days shy of 7-weeks-old. Captured by our family's beloved photographer, Corinne McCombs.
