We have known our little dudes name for quite some time now
and have been debating whether or not to share it. Me being the kind of person I am likes to
share things but this name has a lot of meaning behind it so I wrote this up to
try and explain it all a little.
The first time I went to visit Matt's family in New
Hampshire was Thanksgiving of 2009. That
was also the first time I was really introduced to the story of Matt's uncle
George. He was the oldest of seven Riordan
children, but at the age of 19 was killed in Vietnam. He was a medic in the Navy and his last date
of service was March 14, 1968. That is a pretty common story for many families,
but there was something about George that struck me as amazing. Not only did I learn that he was killed while
attempting to save someone else, but I was blown away by the amount of people
that seemed to be effected by his life and seven months of service in Vietnam . Matt's Gram is 92, and to this day, 45 years
after his death, she receives letters and visits from people who served with and
knew George. She has photo albums and
trunks full of letters and pictures. I
had the pleasure of being able to look through some of what she had received
and was moved to tears every time, although I am sure we didn't even scratch
the surface of what she has collected over the years. It didn't take long after that first visit before
I told Matt that if and when we had a baby boy, his name should be George. I have always wanted to have a little boy
and, not that we have any control over it, but Matt is the last Riordan man on
his side, so I very much wanted to have a little boy to carry on the last
name. Not worried about the Boshart
side, the odds are in our favor with quite a few guys left.
Close to a year after that visit in November, we moved up to
New Hampshire. Because I was still
getting to know the wonderful family that I had married into, I loved being
close enough to go visit as much as we could!
We tried to visit Gram every time we made the trip to Somersworth from
Concord and almost every time George was brought up. She loves sharing his story and the letters
and books she had collected over the years, and we are always eager to hear
more. Matt looks a lot like him,
especially in a few pictures, so the topic often came up easily. Being a military brat and always having a
heart for what the men, women and families in the military go through, I never
tired of looking through the pictures and letters. It was like being able to get to know George
all of these years later, even though we would never meet him while here on
earth. He is remembered by so many and
we are honored to pass on his name. With
every visit, our desire to pass on his name became stronger.
I always wanted to ask Gram if it would be okay if we passed
on George's name to our little one, but with no baby on the way and none in
sight, it's an odd conversation to bring up!!
When Matt graduated and we were able to go back to New Hampshire for his
ceremony, something in me knew that we needed to ask then. I wanted to do it in person before we started
having children and it seemed like perfect timing. We asked and she gave us her blessing,
although we made it clear that we weren't sure when baby Riordan would be on
the way. Two months later we found out
we were pregnant. I can't say that it
was immediate, but something in me knew it was a boy.
On October 22nd we found out we indeed are having a boy. We are so excited and I am very much looking forward to the day that we get to sit down and explain to our son the meaning behind his first name.
George Tucker Riordan
Due March 14th, 2014
Now some of you will probably ask where the name Tucker came
from so I thought I'd throw that in here.
It does not hold nearly as much meaning but the story is fun. When Jana
found out she was pregnant with Thomas she was unsure on names so my mom and I
took it upon ourselves to send her name ideas all the time. One day while sitting at Brewster's
Pizza/Wimberley Brewing Company (if you haven't been...go) we were texting her
names of beers. Samuel Adams being the
most popular name to pass on to the new baby.
That got us talking about favorite beers and Matt's is out of Tuckerman
Brewing Company up in NH, named after one of his favorite hikes Tuckerman's
Ravine. It started out as a joke but
since the name George was already a plan, the name George Tucker came up. With my favorite book being Tuck Everlasting I
was an immediate fan but the more we said it, the more we all loved it, so I
did not share that one with Jana! Now one
year later we get to use it. We've
already begun calling him by the name Tucker so that is most likely what he will
go by until he tells us otherwise :)
