What's in a name?

What's in a name?

 

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
                                                  -William Shakespeare

 

 

     With the update of the FamilySearch website and the challenge from my Stake Presidency to bring at least 4 family names to the temple by the end of the year....I felt a pang to look into my family history.  It wasn't just a thought I had and then it went away....it kept coming back to me and I've learned...no, really I have ;)...I've learned that when that happens...you need to pay attention and heed to whatever thought is being put into your mind because you may regret not following through on those promptings and by the time you realize what was going on...it may be too late. 

So.... you just do it.

 

I told my mom when I came down home this summer, I wanted to get out some geneology and see where we are at with it all.  Even more, I knew I needed to go visit the grave sight of my Grandma and Granmdpa Davis with my children.  I don't know why? I guess thinking about geneology reminded me how much I miss them.  My Grandpa passed away when I was around 8 years old and my Grandma passed away the summer before my Sr. year in High School.  I LOVED them...I ADORED them.  We were a part of each others' lives and I wanted to share that with my kids.  And in some weird way....maybe I could share my children with them because it makes me sad to think my children will never know them (in this lifetime, anyways!). They would have LOVED my children. 

 

My Grandpa, Chester Davis Jr., was the first person in his family to join the church around the time my mom was eight years old.

 

Here he is in his WWII uniform:

 

Isn't he handsome !?!

 

I thought the sun rose and set in this man.  I was his little girl. 
Sooooo many fond memories of my grandpa!

 

A few things that remind me of him:

 

* After being baptized, he drank SANKA in the mornings instead of coffee. Mmmmm... I loved the smell of "coffee" and his aftershave together :)

* He always carried chapstick....the "Chapstick" brand...the black and white one...every once in a while when I buy chapstick, I get that one...so I can smell my grandpa :)

*  He would sing "You Are My Sunshine" to me....and that's the song I sing to my babies

* He watched *MASH* every night after the news.  I would sneak out of my bed and we would share an ice cream treat.

*  He bought me my first pair of roller skates...Pac Man roller skates :)

* He played the harmonica!

 

I could go on and on...another time.

 

So....this summer when we went down to Utah, we went to visit them :)

 

This is where we get Carter Davis Vaden's middle name.

 

I wanted a picture with Carter pointing to his middle name.....

 

Now....I remember the day I found out  my Grandpa's name was Chester.  I was shocked!  Chester?  I'd never heard anyone call him Chester before...lol!  They had always called him "Shug"...

 

(It was obviously important enought to my Grandma to put it on his headstone)

 

Why did they call him "Shug"?

 

Because... He was as sweet as sugar!

 

It was said that his mom would tell people

"He is as sweet as sugar"... and then sugar turned into "Shug".

 

What I find funny, and never really thought about until this summer is.... I've been known to say something very similiar about my Carter!

 

I tell people "Carter is the sweetest boy you'll ever meet!"

 

You know I do....I've said it numerous times on this blog...lol!!!!

 

I guess Carter comes by it honestly and I might have to disagree with Mr. Shakespeare.....

I'm not sure a rose by any other name would smell as sweet ;)

 

After the promptings I felt this summer to connect my children to their great-grandpa, we are ready to take his fathers and mothers name to the temple.  We continue to find more information that will help us get even more names ready, too.  I know something is happening "up there" and it is time to get the Davis' work done!  I can't help but feel a sweetness and an overwhelming joy when I think of my grandpa being sealed to his parents!  I feel an obligation to help him make that happen and I feel they are all ready for it, too.

 

What's in a name?

 

Everything.  It is from where we come and where we are going.