A Timeless, Family Name

Over Thanksgiving, my brothers, mom, sister-in-law and I visited the cemetery where my great-grandmother and great-grandfather are buried. We hadn't been back since my great-grandmother Bain's funeral when I was 10 years old, which makes me sad. I will never go that long before visiting again.

Anyways, we couldn't remember exactly where their spot is and it's a rather large cemetery. However, I found it. I couldn't believe that I remembered from that long ago. It was really special to be there and to see her and my great-grandfather's headstone. I never got to meet him, but I know him through stories.

It is truly a beautiful cemetery, up on a hill, with a gorgeous view of the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains.

I have memories of my great-grandmother Bain (my mom's dad's mom). However, I was just a little girl when she went to Heaven. She was close to 100-years-old. I feel a special connection to her, however, through her name, Katherine. My Lily's middle name is Katherine. I chose it, not because it is a family name, but because of it's meaning: purity and innocence. However, I loved Katherine with a "K" rather than a "C" probably because that's how my great-grandmother's name is spelled. 

After I had already had and named Lily, I found out that my great-grandmother's mother (so my great-great-grandmother) had the name Lily! Lily had a daughter named Katherine. And all these generations later, came my sweet flower... my Lily Katherine. I didn't choose the names because they are family names, but because they both mean purity and innocence, but it does make it extra special and sweet indeed. I wonder if they both knew what their names mean. I wonder why they were given those names. I want to find out what both their maiden middle names were (Kirk was Katherine's maiden last name).

It makes my heart smile that Lily is connected to the generations of my family through her name. She is just as real as anybody and deserves the most beautiful of names. She is a daughter, a granddaughter, a great-granddaughter, a great-great granddaughter, and so forth. And it makes me feel connected to the women in my family who share my daughter's name. I don't understand why some people live 100 years on earth, while others never take a breath outside the womb... but that doesn't make one life more significant than another.

My sweet Lily's name is timeless, elegant, feminine, and oh so lovely. Just the fact that these names go back so far in my family show how timeless they are.

Lily Katherine's name is one of the last things I have left of her... and I treasure it.

I love names that have significant meanings, family names, Biblical names, and old-fashioned names. I already dream of what I would like to name my future hoped-for children.

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