What's in a Name

10 October 2016

This blog actually started out on another website . . . which was called "The Tommy Chronicles" . . . so this first entry might be a little misleading since I had to change the name of the blog . . . my original was apparently taken . . . to "Life Explained by Yaya." I had to move everything here, and I was just too lazy to change the words!

First of all, you’re probably wondering why I’ve titled this narrative “The Tommy Chronicles” since your Mom and Dad, in all likelihood call you Dean . . . or Dean Thomas (after all, you’re a Southern boy, and in the South, it’s rather common to be called by both of your names . . . you know . . . like Billy Joe and Bobby Sue . . . there's a song in there somewhere). Of course, if you hear “Dean Thomas," in a deep husky voice or a high shrill pitch, accompanied by your last name, chances are you’re in trouble. If it’s the third case, you can always call me . . . I most certainly won’t volunteer to get you out of trouble, but I can make chocolate chip cookies . . . hot, chewy cookies make everyone feel better. I do hope you like chocolate chip cookies! But I’ve gotten sidetracked.

Your name . . .

Dean: this one comes from your great Grammy Hahn whose middle name is DeAnn . . . what a wise and wonderful woman she is. My prayer is that she stayed with us long enough for you to have gotten to know her . . . and that you will remember her. I’ll write the story of her at another time.

Thomas: two men, whose very blood courses through your veins, shared this name. I have some very vivid memories of my grandfather . . . your great, great grandfather Cochran (who I called Papa). Of his son Tommy, I have fleeting memories . . . he died at a very young age . . . after we had moved to Spain . . . the last time I saw him I was 6 . . . he was 17.

Papa was a man of true conviction. He was a farmer. He was a humble man. He was a man of very few words. I’ll expound on him in later entries.

Tommy though . . . Tommy loved life. I don’t ever recall him without a smile . . . he was blond and sunny with strong arms that would swing us around . . . carry us across the yard full of stickers . . . sit and play with us for hours . . . he was a patient and thoughtful young man. Tommy was, I am told, quite the prankster . . . and had a free spirit. He was the only boy in a family of 7 kids, and ALL of the girls were older than he, so you can imagine he “suffered” during his young years . . . but there is no doubt the girls doted on him as well. I can only guess what kind of man he would have become, and I would like to think that he would have grown to be much like his father. It is my prayer for you that you grow to embody his spirit . . . not that you become the man he might have been . . . you will grow to be your own kind of man . . . but that you find your smile . . . your strength . . . your patience . . . your valor . . . your moral integrity . . . your passion . . . your humility . . . your true self.

Tommy Age 7 (1960)

This self, my boy, is not something you have to seek out . . . many people think when they reach a certain age that they must “find themselves.” I think this implies that you may think you’ve gotten lost. I don’t think we find ourselves . . . I think we create . . . maybe even discover ourselves . . . but you will never be lost . . . sidetracked maybe . . . but not lost. There is no need to leave anything behind to find yourself . . . it’s important that you keep your eyes on the road ahead, but always remember where you came from. It’s okay to look back sometimes . . . but try not to dwell too much on the past. The choices you make . . . right or wrong . . . are choices . . . your choices . . . don’t let anyone force you into making them.

For you are wonderfully created: Genesis 1:26 says “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’