What's in a name?

I love family names. I was named after my Great Grandmother Lora Smith. My middle name is Jo which was my Grandma Petrik's middle name as her name was Mary Jo.

I have always wanted to name my children after family members. Tommy was named after my Dad, Thomas Petrik. When we found out we were having a girl Joe and I both loved the name Lily but it was not a family name. So, we gave her the middle name Anne which is Colleen's middle name. Colleen is Joe's mom.

However, about a month after Lily was born I received a phone call from my mom. She was cleaning out her cabin and found an old black vase that was my Grandmother's. Inside the vase was a note written by my grandmother in 1986. It said that this vase was given to Aunt Lily from Sheldon around 1940. WOW! Lily does have a family name. She was named after my Great Great Aunt Lily Blom and we did not even know it when we named her. Joe and I had debated about spelling Lily's name with one L or two L's and I wanted one L which is exactly how Lily Blom spelled her name. I got goosebumps and I am so proud to say that Lily has a family name and someday she will be given the black vase. Now I need to do a little digging and find out more about Lily Blom.