Part 1

Some years ago, on the cusp of a stormy and oddly-colored April dusk, a baby boy was ushered into the world.

This particular baby began life just like every baby before him, but his parents, never quite beholden to the trends of their day (and a bit oddly-colored themselves), decided to bequeath him the name Abandon.

Abandon Beethoven Erstwhile, to be exact.

Actually, bequeath was a strong word, for this was not a family name nor a regal title passed down through generations. As fate would have it, this was a special name designed just for this special boy.

Curiously belying the greenish gray and disagreeable clouds present on the day of his birth, Abandon began his life with an altogether sunny disposition. With just enough of a cry to reveal his health and calm his mother, the nurses gathered around him to towel him off, check his breathing and conduct their usual monitoring.

Within a moment, however, there was a startling hush among them. Soon, more nurses began to assemble, and they were nudging and whispering to each other.

You see, this baby was not merely pleasant. His eyes were surprisingly open and quite bright, and he seemed serendipitously aware of his surroundings. Unlike other jumpy and spastic newborns, Abandon reached toward each face as if to touch them with an easy and graceful coordination.

This miracle of a baby, combined with such a unique name, gave all of the nurses a healthy set of goosebumps on their arms, and no small measure of fine hairs standing to attention on the backs of their collective necks.

"But why Abandon?" they asked amongst themselves.

Surely the parents meant the noun abandon, and not the verb abandon. The verb would be most unfortunate given the already recognizable attributes of such a child.

All the same, that very question remained unanswered as those few brief moments blended into the rest of that April evening. Other babies came and cried and clawed their way into life, and soon the nurses and doctors were preoccupied. Before long, morning came and the unique child with the unique name left the hospital with his oddly-colored parents.


And the young Erstwhile family walked into the bright sun of a brand new day with their brand new baby.




***

A few years past, and Abandon grew strong and healthy. And, much like that first morning of his birth, Abandon became precociously aware--but this time, of the peculiarity of his given name and its inherent dichotomy.

Were his parents somehow suggesting that his life would be defined by desertion and withdrawal? Or, more favorably, would it be marked by unbridled enthusiasm and passion? Were it the latter, was he predestined by Something bigger than himself to embody some perceived meaning?

The possibilities were endless.

Sadly, with such potential in a name, and despite his positive outlook, Abandon still came to the conclusion that his parents, for all their good intentions, were likely fancying themselves unique, and quite literally dragging their son along in the wake of a random and haphazard decision.

These questions were much too deep and mysterious for a child. Thus, instead of facing and resolving his unusual identity crisis, he decided to turn his back on it.

Abandon reinvented himself.

With little fanfare, his new name, bequeathed unofficially to himself, became Abe--a much less controversial acronym of his full given name.

So it was, with his parent’s reluctant blessing, that somewhere in the middle of the first and only term of the Carter Administration, young Abe Erstwhile embarked upon a new life with a new name.

Abandon, with all of its promise, became a faint and altogether unpleasant memory.

***

Stay Tuned for Part II. You just never know where it might show up.

2 Comments:

 bjk said...

How's your neice.....waiting...been waiting for 2 of 7.....this is good stuff asperusual....becky

17 May, 2007  

 Margaret Feinberg said...

Great blog!

22 June, 2007  

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