The Three Jo's

When I was growing up, I didn't like my middle name so much.  I thought it sounded too masculine, too much "like a boy".  When I left home and was on my own, I began to appreciate my middle name, and the fact that it was my mother's middle name too.

There are several "Jo's" in our family.  It started with my great Aunt and her daughter, and then a granddaughter.  At family gatherings we have taken photos of "the Jo's" together.

When I found out I was expecting a girl, I started thinking about names.  I had tons of boy names that I liked.  The list of girls names that "sounded right" was much shorter.  Much shorter.

At first I started thinking of names that sounded good with "Jo".  But then I wasn't sure I wanted to use it.  Maybe I would name her after my paternal grandmother, Jean.  I was young when she died, so I still have very romantic memories of her, even as I know some of the reality of her life and the kind of person she could be.  My maternal grandmother's name was Rose.  Oh, Rose would be beautiful as a middle name.

I did a poll on Facebook, since I was having such a hard time deciding.  Kendall Jean, Caitlin Rose, or Jocelyn Rose.  Note that none of those options ended in "Jo".

Then she came, and I knew I had to make her a Jo.  I actually named her after my mother, since her first name is the old Gaelic version of my mother's first name.  And we are all Jo's.  We were inseparable for the first weeks - it was many weeks before we all hadn't slept under the same roof together every night.  So we became The Three Jo's.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day 2010

Goofing Off