"We just had a little boy named Rhett in here, one of the nurses told me conversationally, wouldn't that have just been something, to have them in a room together?"
I nodded politely, hoping my face did not reflect my bewilderment. I had no idea what in the world she was talking about.
As it happens, I've never read nor seen Gone With The Wind.
I also did not know that Scarlette was not the proper spelling of Scarlett.
People keep remarking on the extra e. Her doctor calls her "Scarlette with an e" which makes me smile a little. I think her doctor must have been an Anne of Green Gables fan. I just thought that Scarlette naturally had an e on the end, because of the double consonants, like barrette or Jeanette.
We did not know what her name would be when I went to the hospital. Scarlette or Lila were our choices but we were undecided on middle names. I wanted to name her for my late grandmother Vonne but hadn't been able to persuade Jeff. As they hooked me up to monitors and machines and told me I was in labor, I wept. I suppose the nurses were trying to calm me down, asking me what name we'd chosen for the baby. Each time I would sob anew. She didn't have a name. A specialist came in and talked about everything that could go wrong. About how I wouldn't be able to see her after she was born. About the high probability of my daughter dying. And I couldn't bear that she didn't have a name.
"Name her, I cried to Jeff as he stroked my face while they started another IV, she has to have a name. We could lose her and she won't have a name."
"Scarlette Vonne" he said.
It's my favorite.
"Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20
