My name is very special to me. I am named after both of my Grandpa’s quite literally. I have Grandpa Freddy’s middle name, which Frederick Jewell was a composer of music namely marching band music. It took me years to realize how intriguing the story is about how Grandpa got his name and why he loved me having his name.
Then I was born a Bishop. Only two of Leo’s granddaughters have his last name. Me and my niece. My name is unique to me and it did take me time to comprehend how special my name really is for me.
The question though is what would I change my name to? In college I finally got over my maybe childish bias of thinking everything German was bad. I did come to my senses. Yet the fact remained that Grandpa was a prisoner of war and dealt with atrocities he couldn’t talk about with his family. Not even his son, Daddy. My first year in school I met a German lady.
College helped me to overcome my issues with Germans, especially since ironically I am several slices of German myself. I am seriously Alsman, Bishop, Lester, Harbin, there’s no hiding the fact most of my ancestry came from Germany before the Revolution. Plus I have the facts behind that statement. Apparently, before me both sides of my family were genealogists themselves.
This beautiful lady I met had a golden smooth voice. I became enamored with listening to her accent. She sang a bit in German as well. She was born in Germany, but met her husband in Evansville and as far as I know she’s a music teacher somewhere. By the way she was not the only singer in her relationship. I remember hearing them sing as a duet. They were an awesome duo. He actually challenged me that first year in college choir to sing a solo for the Valentine’s Concert. That is another story. I did answer his challenge, though!
Her name was Romina, isn’t it a melodic sounding name with the old country-esque mystique about the name.
Jewells of Thought 
Leave a comment