Her name

I had a list in my pocket.  A list that I carried around in my pocket for days and days.  A list of names.  Baby girl names.  When I would hear a name that I liked, I would write it on the list.  I would say the names over and over....waiting for confirmation of the name of my new baby girl.    I would run a name or two by Bryan and he would tell me what he thought.

Nothing sounded right.  It made me anxious.  I felt like I needed to have a name.  The perfect name.    As I packed my bags to get ready to go to the hospital, I packed my list in my pocket.  I just knew that none of the names on the list were just right.  I had been worried for days.

As our little girl lay in our arms for the first time, we fell in love.  We held her and cherished each moment.  The nurses busied themselves around us and every so often would ask if we had choosen a name. We had gone over each name on my list...

Emma

Emily

Annie

Hannah

Anna

We both knew none of these was the right name.  We would just smile at the nurses and let them know that he hadn't named her yet.

Bryan held Grace.  And, as he handed her back to me he said "Everything was so graceful, her middle name should be Grace".  I immediately knew the moment he said it.  I knew in my soul that this was the name we had been searching for.  All my anxious worrying and searching for a name had come to a halt.  We just knew her name was to be Grace.  Our beautiful little girl had named herself. The name chosen for her from the beginning of time.  Grace Marie Dahl.