Day 106: Happy Birthday Coco!

It was eighteen years ago today that I met Coco.  I was at the Portland Adventist Hospital and the doctor exclaimed, “It’s a boy!”  My first question was, “Are you sure?”  I did not think I was going to have a boy because my first and second pregnancies seemed very much the same.  For that reason, I had not selected a boys name for my baby.  Instead, I had chosen the name “Eleanor Rose” in honor of both of his grandmothers.  And so when the doctor told me the news I was a bit surprised.

It took us five days to name our boy child.   I was of the mind that we would name him “Joseph” in honor of his paternal grandfather but when it came to deciding my husband was not comfortable calling his son by his father’s name.  And so we talked for several days – and considered many possibilities.  And we chose the name Francesco for our new baby.  We had lived in San Francisco together and that was a special time and I had also known a baby named Francisco when I was younger.

However, our last name is of Italian origin and while we liked the name “Francisco” a lot, we felt that it did not match well with our last name.  We discovered that Francesco was the Italian version of Francisco and we were both happy with that and so our son was named “Francesco Joseph.”   It was only a year or so later that the name that we had so carefully chosen was reduced to a much shorter nickname, “Coco”.

This happened because once or twice a week I babysat for my friend’s son, Jonathan, who was a year older than my son.  The boys got along very well and I loved the time I spent with Jon.  And then came the week when I arrived and Jonathan met me at the door and said “Coco’s here.”  Coco?  What was that about? Well, it meant that Jon, at two, could not say “Francesco” and condensed the name to Coco.  And Francesco has been Coco ever since then.

Today our “baby” boy has turned eighteen and it is amazing to see how this eight pound baby has turned out.  His Dad and I are both surprised at how fast the time has gone by.   How does that happen?  I don’t know.  I only know that I am honored and grateful for the time that I have spent with this young man and hope that he is able to make all of his dreams come true.

Tonight we shared a gluten-free ice cream pie with our neighbors (who have known Coco since he was two).   We are truly blessed to be surrounded by caring friends who share in the moments of our lives.

Happy Birthday Coco – we love you!