I Swear You Will Be Fine

I knew you were going to be a boy as early as 13 weeks in my pregnancy. And yet, we took forever to name you. In comparison, I didn’t know Jess was going to be a girl, and she was named within 45 minutes of being born!

I initially wanted Dylan. But Dad didn’t like it. And then I wanted names starting with J. Jayden was something I liked. But there was a 2 year old boy in Australia who had just been murdered and everyone related the name to that incident. So the debate was between Joshua and Jason. It took us 2 weeks after you were born to finally name you. Until we named you, we constantly referred to you as “baby”. Mama struck off Jason because of the reminder of the character in Friday the 13th.

And so you were named Joshua. I did not intend for the name to be from the bible. When I told Patta your name, he joked and said, “Ah, the beginning of the wars…”. But we stuck to it. 

The biblical figure Joshua who was the assistant of Moses and later became his successor. He was the leader of the Israelite tribes. The meaning is “Yahweh is salvation”. Not even sure if you know this Josh!

When Jess was little, she would call you “Joshooooa”. It was so cute, and you would generally respond only when she called you that. It was one of the most common names given to baby boys in 2004, if not the most common.

Everywhere we went there were Joshuas. Usually if there was a little boy throwing a tantrum in the malls, you could bet his name was Joshua. There were so many in your kindergarten, primary and secondary schools. Even in Uni. You even had close friends who were called Joshua.

Now, I am so thankful that it is such a common name. 

The other day I took Ammamma, Patta and Tun to watch the movie F1. The main reason for it being that Aunty B had watched it and told me the main character’s name was Joshua. It was nice to hear the name for 150 mins….Joshua….Josh…I was annoyed that Brad Pitt’s character decided to give a nickname- JP. If not, we would have heard the name more.

The other day there were 3 little boys I saw. Aunty M was having a full-on conversation with them. And the eldest boy said his name was Joshua.

It’s so nice to hear it, read it, and say it. It is truly a lovely name, for one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I know. You were certainly not the beginning of any wars. In fact, you have brought so many of us closer together.

For now, we will take comfort and relief every time we meet/ see/ read/ hear your name. I am so glad we named you Joshua.

Love you darling,

Mum