Names--Grandma

Names are powerful.
Where I come from, natural vegetation is abundant. We've got a million different trees, from A-Y (alder to yellow cedar.)We've got berries galore. There are grasses and bushes and mosses everywhere.
Names are important.
Here's an example with two of the SE plants that I see every summer.
Skunk cabbage.

You know what I'm talking about. Its big, lettuce-like leaves grow in every wet, swampy place in SE (and that just about describes SE, by the way.) It earns its name by smelling skunky. Well, that's what they say. I think it's fine.
If you didn't know this, you'd still guess that it stinks, just because of its name. I mean, it's not at all like the...

Chocolate lily.
Doesn't that just sound delicious? Maybe it could be my wedding flower...
NOT!
Chocolate lilies sound pretty and look pretty, but they definitely don't smell pretty. To quote Wikipedia:
"It is also sometimes known as skunk lily, dirty diaper and outhouse lily because of the flower's horrible smell."

I know this is pretty random, but it makes sense in my head. Let's not talk about flowers. Let's talk about the name
Welch.
Welch girls have a lot to live up to. Kind, smart, a little goofy/funny, quick-witted, graceful, lady-like, and ever-loving. That's what we're going for.
I'm a Welch girl. This name ties me to my mom's side. It's the name I claim with my cousins whenever we're together. Not because it's better than our other names. Just because it ties us to our grandparents.

My grandma, (who wasn't a Welch until she got married) is the best of the Welch girls. Always loving. Always faithful. Always positive. And pretty darn funny, to boot.

She passed away last Thursday. I miss her like crazy.

But I'm also really thankful, because I know there's something binding me to her that's stronger than just our Welch girl status. Sometime down the road into forever, I know I'll see her again.

Some names are eternal. My family's is one of them.

-Erika

And if you'd like to see some beautiful pictures of my Grandma Welch, click on this and this. My cousin Jamie is a long-time blogger and wrote some beautiful things about Grandma.