Emma Sue

My friend, Christy, daughter of my very good friend, Linda H, gave birth to a gorgeous new baby girl earlier this week. Christy and husband Rob named her "Emma Sue" and I have to say it's the cutest name I've heard in a long time. Just last Sunday, Gary and I were discussing the way names change from generation to generation - especially girls' names. Some names seem to survive for generations, like Emily, Jane, Ann, Sarah, Rachel, Emma, Elizabeth, Mary and Hannah. Maybe the Bible and timeless literature have something to do with it. Some names don't last - there aren't many Myrtle's, Mildred's, Evelyn's, Gertrude's, Doris's or Virginia's around today under the age of 80. Many of my contemporaries' names are no longer on the top 10 list - Karen, Kathy, Debbie, Laurie, Dru, Terry, Candy. Of course I don't know many Tiffany's, Ashley's, Caitlin's, Lindsay's, Megan's, Serena's or Britney's over age 40, either. And there aren't many Apple's or Coco's around, period. I've always loved the name Susan and all it's variations - Suzanne, Sue, Susie - and I have known many women my age or older with the name. I have a wonderful Aunt Sue. Maybe the name Susan will come back, as Violet has, thanks to the Affleck's. My childhood best friend, Patty, had a granny named Violet.

Back to baby Emma Sue. As I said, she's beautiful. I know this because the day after she was born, her mommy (or could have been her daddy) uploaded something like 100 photos of her first 24 hours on the planet onto Shutterfly and sent it to friends. I felt as if I'd been in the delivery room with them! How cool is that? I guess if you're going in to have a baby these days, you need to put on makeup and be prepared for your close-up when it appears on You-Tube. Emma Sue didn't need anything - she was utterly perfect as she wailed through clean-up and then slept soundly and adorably for the first time out of the womb. I can't wait to meet her in person.