What's in a name?

I just wanted to share a little about our choice of names for this little girly. First of all, and this is probably the biggest reason: I just think it is beautiful. But there are a few other reasons we chose the name as well. We came back to this name, in fact, after abandoning it when some friends in the ward named their baby Harper a couple of months ago. We thought of the name independently, and a mutual friend alerted us to the fact that we wanted the same name. I felt really bad using her name, so we were considering some of these names: Violet, Estelle (Estee), Maeve, Clementine, Lola, etc. By the way, girl names are waaaayyyy harder than boy names because there are so many more choices! I always thought it would be so easy. Wrong. Especially because this is our one big shot at naming a girl... it had to be just right.

Anyway, we didn't name her until she was 5 days old, at which point Jason convinced me to just go with Harper since it is what I wanted all along. And really, how long will we be in the same ward as the other Harper? Right?

So- here are a few of the reasons I love Harper's name.

First, writer: Harper Lee.

By the way, these people are not in order of importance to me personally. I put Harper Lee in first because people always often ask if this is where we got the name. Because, you know, Jason has 2 degrees in English, so it might be natural to name her after a great author. (I have to say that I like the names Scout and Atticus too...) The answer is yes, in part.

Who wouldn't be honored to be named after the writer of the famed To Kill a Mockingbird, right? This book won the Pulitzer prize-winner and stayed on the best-seller list for 88 weeks is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Here is one review written in the Washington Post at the time the book was first published:

"A hundred pounds of sermons on tolerance, or an equal measure of invective deploring the lack of it, will weigh far less in the scale of enlightenment than a mere 18 ounces of new fiction bearing the title To Kill a Mockingbird."

What a shame that Harper Lee hasn't published anything since.

Maybe our Harper will be a writer, like Harper Lee, or like her Dad, and like her Gramma Linda.

The second reason I love the name Harper:

Artist Charley Harper.

Charley Harper may be my favorite artist. It's hard to say if that is 100% true, because I do have a lot of favorites. But he is definitely in the top 5 for me. I am so in love with his work. He died 2 years ago, which really saddens me because I would like to track him down and meet him. Here are some examples of his fabulous work. Someday Jason and I will live in a cool, crazy-modern home bedecked with work by Charley Harper. For now, Harper's room will be.

Now, seriously, look at this man's studio. It is a disaster. I KNOW I would like this guy.

I LOVE his work. It is amazing. AMAZING! A-MAZING!

Maybe our Harper will be an artist like Charley Harper, or her mama.

And last, but not least: Musician Ben Harper.

I want to know who of my readers loves Ben Harper. Have you heard of him? Check him out. You won't be sorry. He has collaborated with Mr. Jack Johnson lately, if that helps you feel the love.

Okay, now, here is the reason Ben Harper is so special to us. Jason proposed to me one golden evening in June 1999 to the Ben Harper tune "Gold to Me." While driving through the canyon one evening, on our way to dinner in Salt Lake, he pulled his red Jetta VR6 off the road at Sherwood Hills. He drove up an overgrown service road into a little clearing, full of late afternoon sunlight, stopped the car, started this song, walked around the car, got down on one knee, opened a ring box with shaking hands and asked me to marry him.

The song was perfect, and the lyrics apply as much to how we feel about our little girl as they did that day to me.

Here are some of the lyrics:

You look like gold to me, and I'm not too blind to see.
Oh, you look like gold.
Said, you look like gold.

And you make me want to sing with all the joy you bring.
Oh, you look like gold.
Oh, you look like gold.

Like the rays down from the sun when a new day has just begun.
You look like gold.
You look like gold.

And now, look here 'cause,
I've been fooled before,
But now I know,
I've made the mistake in the past,
But now, now I know the difference from gold,
from gold and brass.

Maybe our Harper will be a musician, like Ben Harper, or like her Daddy.

Harper's middle name comes from the most faithful, kind, generous, selfless, hard-working woman I have ever known: my mom, Katherine McCracken Olsen.

I pray that Harper Katherine is all of those things just like her Grandma Katherine.

I can't wait to see all the things our Harper will do and be.