When Lyna was still pregnant, we discussed at length what we should name our daughter. She really liked the name “Emilia,” the way it sounded and how different variations of it referenced strong women in history.
My vote was for “Hope.” At the time, we lived on Hope street in DTLA so she was literally made in hope. I love the meaning of the word and a baby, with all the potential in the world, is literally the personification of hope. But more importantly, me being pretty damn old when we had her, my only hope was that our baby arrived healthy and strong. When Lyna was hospitalized with COVID during the last trimester (such a scary time) that hope was even more pronounced.
Lyna doing the brunt work of baby making, naturally Emilia won. As a compromise, she added Hope, making her full first name Emilia-Hope.
Everyone calls her Emilia, which I’m totally good with. But thanks to the brilliant
@OrnamentalConifer and his hand painted artwork, Hope, and everything the word means to me, will live on in perpetuity.
That’s the hope.
@NicolaiSclater , thank you again for the incredibly thoughtful gift. When you surprised me with the piece, I had to hold back the emotions. You’re literally the best.
And thank you
@gary_jenny for whipping up the custom frame in time for the holidays. It came out sick.