What's in a name?

TO THE EDITOR

The opportunity to name a child is a blessing within itself. The overwhelming feeling of instant gratification when a proud parent realizes that this blessed human being is going to be labeled with a proper noun is euphoric. There is often a great debate on what proper noun to give this child. Some people like common names and others just combine syllables and rely on what sounds nice.

Most times when they arrive at a final decision, they do not consider how the child may feel about the choice that they have made. The child is forced to live with it.

There used to be a time when there was a birth of a son that it was almost always given that he carry the name of the father. Which was usually the name of the grandfather, greatgrandfather, and so on.

Yes, I agree this is all well and good, but it puts an incredible amount of pressure on a child to maintain a certain social status. There is an old clinche that states, "the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree." Often these days, the apple falls in Timbuktu, in Madagascar, or somewhere light years away from the tree.

Often times, the son is compared so much to the father that he tries to distance himself as much as possible in order to be his own man.

I was given the gift and the curse of being named after my father. As a matter of fact, one initial separates us. As a result of a mistake that I made in the recent past, the use and nonuse of my middle initial has separated us in more ways than one.

I have asked the Lord to forgive me for the mistakes that I have made that brought shame to my father and our name. Now I would like to ask my father to forgive me for making him regret making me his namesake.

Dad I apologize.

NATHANIEL V. LEVERETT