Faith,  Writing

The meaning of a name. . .


Me & my mother-in-law, Lynn.

Today I have a heavy heart.

My mother-in-law is in surgery. One that will hopefully prolong her life for many years since her recent cancer diagnosis.

You might wonder what’s this got to do with the title of my post today,The meaning of a name. . .

Most of you know that Lynn Rush is my pen name. My mother-in-law played a part in that, though. So, I wanted to share the story…

~~~

As much as I love my husband and his character-building, very Dutch last name, its complex spelling and pronunciation doesn’t work well in the writing world. So, you can imagine I was encouraged to pick a pen name early on in my writing career.

I’m a sentimental kinda gal. I mean, I tell everyone the diamond in my wedding ring is my mother-in-law’s engagement diamond. She’s been married to her hubby for over 42 years!

It’s just me. I love that stuff.

So, when I was encouraged to pick a pen name, I had to go the sentimental route with that as well. I wanted something nice and short, easy to remember, and just kinda flowed off the tongue.

Yet I wanted some meaning behind it.

We threw out funny last names to go with Sheri (Yep, that’s my real first name) such as Speed, Crash, silly ones like that to kind of represent my love of speed (speed skating, road biking, mountain biking) and the tendency to crash while participating in those adventures.

But nothing flowed.

So, one morning, my sweet hubby and I were on a scenic drive, throwing out name ideas. I don’t remember the exact wording, but the conversation went something like this:

“Hey, Char, what about Lynn?”

He smiled. “Well, it is your middle name.”

“But I was thinking more of your mom, though. It’s her first name and she was the first to read anything I’d ever written. Plus, she’s a great writer. Remember she wrote When Was It Love for our wedding?”

He smiled and nodded. “It’s nice.”

I thought it only appropriate, considering Lynn was instrumental to where I am today, and not just as a writer, but as a woman and wife as well.

We decided on Rush to kind of go with the speed-junky-thing I have going on, but most importantly is the first name. Technically it’s my middle name, but I know the real reason behind it.

~~~

So, I dedicate today’s post to Lynn Boeyink. She’s stepped into a war for her life after having been diagnosed with a form of liver cancer that didn’t leave her with great odds of beating. One of the many battles she’ll face is today…surgery.

Love you, Mom II.

If you’re interested, you can follow her journey on CaringBridge.

23 Comments