I cannot say why I love names so much. I feel as strongly about names as I do about words and quotes. There is a fierceness I have toward names and the naming of children. I sometimes feel sorry for parents of only children, that they only got once chance at naming. I got four, and wish I got fourteen. 

This past weekend at a beautiful wedding TJ and I attended, I studied the wedding program for the names. It's the names, always the names, that draw my eyes to linger on the printed words. I do it with bulletins, programs, play bills, rosters, directories. I could love a phonebook for that reason.

At the wedding, the names of the two little flower girl sisters, Harte and Winslet, thrilled and delighted me. During the reception, I sought out and met the mom who gave the darlings the darling names. She talked about a book that inspired her to name her kids creatively, and I was celebrating her heart. And her Harte. 

Then at church on Sunday, I met the people in the pew behind us and asked their names. I can't help that I have to know if Ryan the girl is spelled like Ryan the boy, and which version of Kristy your parents picked for you.

I discovered over text that the Katie I met recently is spelled Kaity. I asked the Corey I was introduced to if her name was spelled like Corrie Ten Boom's. And I learned that Alexander and Ella are George Clooney's new twin babies' names. I thank God for all these lovely people on the planet since my interest and curiosity in names is unlikely to be satiated anytime soon. 

This name love I possess is as mysterious to me as the fact that I don't possess proper wedding attire. I simply don't, and I mustn't worry about it. I borrowed a dress from my friend Shannon whose husband is a lawyer and who therefore owns plenty of dresses for fancy legal events. On Friday afternoon as I got dressed, I realized I had no shoes to wear for the wedding. So I pulled off Tom's with a fancy black dress. Ten minutes before we left the house to drive to the mountains for the wedding, what else was there to do but own it? 

We listened to music all the way there, me in my black dress and Tom's, TJ in his shorts and t-shirt until he finally changed into his suit ten minutes before we arrived. I wore my Tom's to walk across that beautiful grassy field to sit and watch that beautiful bride get married. And all the while, I'm studying the program and dreaming of the names Harte and Winslet for those two lucky little girls. How lucky the bride and groom are to have each other and this gorgeous day for their wedding. How lucky that I have this dress to borrow. Lucky with Tom's. Lucky with TJ. And lucky, lucky with those four lovely kids back home that we got to name.