James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”)…
~ Mark 3:17
Seriously, when we named our boys James and John, we weren’t thinking of the Biblical reference. Nor was our second child named for Jean Luc Picard.
But the names work.
James, the elder, has the Fletcher family name. It skipped my generation, and my Uncle James had two daughters. So our son James (J) is named for my grandfather and for several generations of James before.
John, who goes by the name Luke (as in John Lucas) also bears a family name. It’s a family name on the Fletcher side as well as on the Hamblin side (his mother’s maiden name).
The pictures here represent that legacy. On the left is James Arthur Fletcher, my grandfather (October 10, 1883 – May 14, 1968). To the left is John Stafford Hamblin, my wife’s great-grandfather (May 21, 1855 – February 2, 1943) We are blessed to have these pictures now hanging in our home. Both used to hang in the respective family “home place.”
Our John, or Luke (formerly known as “small child” on Facebook), has just turned 14. You can read his story here and here. His older brother is in his senior year as a film student.
On a side note, that older brother once tried to identify a friend from church by saying “You know, she plays Thunder.” The friend played the mother of James and John in our Easter production….I’ll wait for you to get it.
But back to the pictures. Each boy now has a remembrance of the family that has gone before. Each boy will eventually carry with him that piece of history (along with an ever growing collection of nutcrackers and snow globes that Santa adds to every Christmas).
For now the pictures grace our walls and we are reminded that we are the sum of those who have gone before.
And, Happy 14th, Son.