I've often mentioned Celtic knots. Events and thoughts lately really seem to reflect that concept of space/time/connections!
Does anyone else have a birthday or two that keeps popping up in one's family? As far as I know this one started way back in 1909 when my aunt Ruth Morgan was born on Novmber 14. She was the immediate elder sister of my dad. Then on November 14, 1951 my brother Charlies Michael entered the world. Neither of us have any natural born kids but I married into the Walton family and got three second hand children. The youngest of the three is may daugher Jennifer. On November 14, 1990 the she a son who was named Jarrod William Hudson (her married name) Then on November 14, 2020 Jarrod's first cousin Julie Mayne (nee Walton), eldest son Malcolm's child, birthed another baby boy who has been named Caden Duncan Mayne.
Names of course are less coincidental. Aunt Ruth's middle name was Alexandria which was a name known in Grandma Morgan's family, both the McCormacks and then in her mother line, the Haynies in both the female and male versions. It was passed to my baby brother born May 17, 1959 as his middle name although one he often went by as Zan when a kid and later Alex. His first name was Robert which was Mom's father's and her brother's. On the Morgan side there was a sequence of three Charles. Grandpa was named Charles Alva when he was born in 1878. His father's name was John so I am not sure where the Charles came from but of course it was passed to his first son who got Grandma's surname as his middle name, thus Charels McCormack Morgan. At times Dad also added the A. to his name, apparently an affectation since it appeared on no ocuments. When my first brother came along both parents were against juniors but wanted to keep the initials at least so he became Charles Michael.There that lineage stops due to him having no children but the name was still woven into my life. Back to that in a minute.
On the Walton side, Jim's father was LeRoy Lightner Walton. When Grandpa Roy and his wife adopted baby Jim in 1930 they named him James LeRoy. I am not sure where the James came from since I know of none by that name in either of his parents' familiies. When Jim's first son came along, he was named Malcolm AlRoy. Jim as a great Hibernophile or fan of all things Scots so the Malcolm likely came from that and the boy's middle name was the combination of his grandfathers: LeRoy and Albert. The second son, born on July 14, 1959, was named David Duncan Walton. While serving in Korea in the Marine Corps, Jim had met and been very impressed with David Duncan, the wartime photo-journalist correspondent who sent so much home from the front lines to Life magazine and other venues. David was named in tribute to that man, although both are good Scots names also. Then on September 14, 1964 a daughter was born. Again a fairly popular name was chosen, Jennifer, but to keep the JLW initals, Grandpa Roy's mother's family name of Lightner became her midle name. She used to win bets often since few could ever guess what that L stood for. Perhaps she still does.
When his first son came along November 3, 1974, Jim's eldest Malcolm and his first wife named him Daniel LeRoy; the Daniel I think coming from a popular song of that time. Three years later daughter Julie was born and the middle L was kept though as Lynne rather than anything more exotic. Julie's first child was born on July 14, 2001, sharing that birthday with his Uncle David, and was named Julian LeRoy Walton. His biological faher had vanished so he was a Walton. Whether he will soon have a child to keep the JLW or not remains to be seen but he does have a steady girlfriend and approaching twenty now could settle down soon. And now Julie's newest has been tagged with the middle name Duncan. I do not yet know why that name was chosen. She and her uncle are not too close.
Now back to Charles and also another link to Duncan. In 1964 when I met the first love of my life, his name happened to be Charles, too. I learned that Duncan was his middle name and had been his adopted father's name as well. (Odd parallel here with both him and Jim being adopted and carrying their father's name as their middle name.) It was not to be, but I dreamed for a time of a son of ours to be christened either Morgan Duncan or Charles Robert. Due to many unexpected and disruptive events, our story did not have a happy-ever-after ending but I have sensed or felt that will come in another place and time. Who knows?
One more birthday story. Mine is April 27 and I found a number of years ago that I shared that date with Ulysses S. Grant (actually Hiram Ulysses before he modified it to be U.S., for reasons of patriotism perhaps). Anyway he was the North's leading general in the Civil War and then became President as a popular post-war hero. I love a quote from him which I think exemplifies the Taurus determination we both share: "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Then in 1970 when I went off to my first real job as a trainee in Human Resources at Fort Huachuca, a fellow employee named Thomas Dower and I fell just short of becoming an item for a bit since the other new hires in our small group were married. His birthday was April 27, 1944, eactly a year after mine. What an irony, since he was a rabid and almost nonreconstructed southerner, that he shared a birthdate with President Grant. I did not know it at the time but would have rubbed his nose in it without mercy if I had!
At any rate I have a dear friend who says there's no such thing as coincidences yet my life seems to be overrun with them in dates, names and other strange patterns. That is why I say my ancient Celtic ancestors were onto something when they tried to graphically illustrate the twists, turns and entertwines of life and fate with their beautiful, elaborate and very complicated designs. It is, perhaps, no coicidence that my Guardian Angel's name is Dara, a word that defines the knotted "tree of life" shape widely used in Celtic iconography.
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