The Name Game

A long long time ago....like back in November....we were at a hockey game with some friends and during the game, I turned to Derek and said, "If this is a boy, his name is going to be Easton Warner." He looked a little confused and asked me where I got the name Warner from. Ha!
When the name Easton came to mind, I remember going downstairs and asking Derek what he thought. He said that he had just thought of that name too. I was trying to get a name that had to do with hockey, and my favorite players names just weren't doing it for me, then it hit me that my hockey stick brand was Easton (all of my other gear is Reebok and that just wasn't going to work) and that with our love of hockey, it would be perfect. (It's also nice that there are plenty of clothing items with the name on them so I don't have to worry about paying for monogramming or personalizing clothes =). Actually the rink I play at has some pretty cool Easton shirts and jackets.
We went round and round with the middle name....Derek liked William and I did too, but I didn't think it flowed well with Easton and liked Warner much better. My mom finally told me that I should just let Derek choose the middle name (not that he really let me choose the first name-he hates my top choices). So I said OK fine I'll let him pick it. My guess is that after all the pain I went through, he felt bad, or he felt bad for laughing at me in labor and chose Warner as an 'I'm sorry' =).
Warner is my Great Uncle's middle name. He was one of the greatest men I know. He was creative, funny, witty and smart. He was a pilot and in the Marines.
Everyone in his town seemed to know him. When we went somewhere, it never failed; there was always at least one person who knew him.
When I was 11 or 12, I got to spend two weeks over the summer with him and my Aunt Jewel and I was in heaven. We made a lot of fun stuff from junk, Aunt Jewel taught me how to make apple pie and Uncle George taught me how to eat it =), did a lot of four wheeling up the mountain (and of course my first time driving the four wheeler up, I almost died. Luckily my cousin Josh was riding with me and stretched his leg to reach the brake JUST before we went off the side of the cliff- yes, one wheel was off the ground and over the edge. Uncle George made me get off and ride with him while Josh took over the driving!)

One of my only pictures of me with Uncle George (and unfortunately it's blurry):


He passed away when I was 13.
Here's to you Uncle George!