Namesake

Bridget's middle name is Ruth, and I wanted to take a moment to compose a post about the women in my line with whom she shares this name.

Ruth, me and her husband, John.  Ma and Pa.

Ruth was one of my great-grandmothers (my father's maternal grandmother), and she was a very special person.  Her home served as the meeting place for many, many extended family gatherings and no matter how many people were around, she had the ability to make you believe that you weren't just her favorite person at the table, or in the room--she made you believe that you were her favorite person in the world.  And honestly, I think she made you feel that because that's what she felt when she was with you.  That kind of Love has a remarkable impact on a child and I am so wholly convinced that the world would be a better place if everybody had someone in their lives like my Ma.  Her family was a great pillar in her life but my great-grandmother was an absolutely fascinating person who enriched her own life and many others by pursuits outside of raising her family.  She played the piano at silent movies.  She was an accomplished seamstress.  She was vibrant and intelligent and so much fun.  One of the most difficult circumstances of my adolescence was watching her die, because it wasn't an event, it was a slow process over several years.  Many times, I sat by her and held her hand and wished nothing more than to be able to somehow pour my own youth and health into her and hear her tell me stories I'd heard a thousand times just once more.

I hope to be able to learn to live my life so that I can be remembered as Ma still is and to give my own posterity what she gave me and my many relatives.

And then, there was her third daughter, Jonnie Ruth.

Me and Jonnie Ruth, about 3 meters away from the other picture.

My paternal grandmother passed away 15 years ago this summer and I still actively miss her almost every single day.  I wish I could play back the memories in my mind for my husband and my children so that they could know her, too, because her voice is still so clear even though I haven't heard it in so long (I don't have any videos of her).  She had a very similar effect on people that her mother did, as her family was her passion and her purpose, and she devoted herself to it.  She was wonderful.

And so that brings us Ruth's great-great-granddaughter and Jonnie Ruth's great-granddaughter, to our own Bridget Ruth...

I don't know what my grandmother or great-grandmother were like as infants, but Bridget is a remarkably sweet baby.  And I promise, I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother, even though I know that it makes me biased.  She has such a sweetness about her and is so affectionate, she's a brighten-your-day baby if there ever was one, and I think she is right on course to keep up with her namesakes.

I have said many times that I feel incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family of my own--my husband and our children, this fleeting time they're our immediate family before they grow up and leave to have immediate families of their own.  But I also feel incredibly blessed to have come from wonderful people, too.