Throughout today I will try to piece together the many moments of this 80th birthday.
To begin I remember the story of my birth as told to me by my mother.
In 1940 Dora Prohaska Braun gave birth to my sister Dagmar.
Dagmar I lived less than 24 hours.
A year later I was born and in memory of her was baptized Dagmar Ingrid Josephine.
The name Dagmar means a day at the ocean or a day with Mary.
In Denmark babies are given a Dagmar cross in memory of their beloved Queen Dagmar.
I don’t believe my mother knew that legend, I never heard that story until years later the wife of the Italian ambassador, visiting ohio, gifted me with a Dagmar cross. To this day I wear it together with the bridget cross given to me by my friend Lee Ann Massucci.
Yesterday the day began with a birthday text by my youngest granddaughter theresa and ended with a surprise visit by kids and grandkids including my youngest grandson Asher.
Josephine was given that name without Noelle realizing it was my own and Opa’s mother name, not to mention the name of my favorite baby doll?
So what’s in a name? Reflecting on the names I chose for my children made me remember deep connections one by one.
Eric was names in honor of Frank Celeste, Christopher to honor Arthur Braun, Gabriella to honor my Italian mom Maria Scrivanich, Noelle was named by Alicia Miller but in honor of Teresa of Avila, and Natalie born on father’s day was named after mother Mary while Stephen the youngest was named to honor the archangel Micheal and my mother, grandmother and sister Theodora, a name that lives on with Thea our first great grandchild. I could continue to reflect on the meaning of naming but will rest my case for now.
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My apologies for initially publishing this post in my own name. That was a mistake! I hope to get better at this process as Dagmar and Alex and I work it out. Also, for now it seems like the pictures are not showing up in the email. Sorry about that. You can always click on the title in the email to land here on the website and see the pictures Dagmar has shared.