Contents
Poems
of Comfort and
Inspiration
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I had been so impressed by that character's heroic action, that that was clearly the name for my girl. My girl would be strong, brave, and honorable, as she did, indeed, turn out to be.  |
The
Name "Katrina"
At a pre-funeral meeting with the priest, Father C. commented that "Katrina" was a very unusual name & asked how we came to name her that - was there someone in the family with that name? (in the Catholic tradition). I told him that I had gotten the name from the play "Mother Courage". In reality, I had really wanted my baby girl to be named "Katie", but her father wanted a full name from which Katie was derived. He wanted it to be Kathryn or Kathleen, but I wanted to avoid the possibility of her ever being "Kathy", because "Katie" was who I wanted. Her father said that she should be named after a saint or a family member & that it had to be a name which would not interfere with her ever becoming a highly respected public official, not some off-beat name. In the naming of our first two children, I had pretty much conceded to his wishes. For this one, my girl, I was going to have the final say. In looking for the "formal" name to go with the name "Katie", I readily thought of the character in Brecht's play. I never shared this with Katie, because, in a way, I feared Katie might find the character unflattering, as she was a mute. But, I had been so impressed by that character's heroic action, that that was clearly the name for my girl. My girl would be strong, brave, and honorable, as she did, indeed, turn out to be. That mute daughter died beating a drum on a rooftop to wake up the families and children of the town. Uncanny? It is my wish that Katie's death will wake up the families and children of my town and there will be a ripple effect out to a wider & wider circle of towns. A major attitude change is needed among our teen-agers regarding recreational drug use. And, a major wake-up call is needed for the health insurance industry. For a detailed summary of Brecht's play, Mother Courage, click below. Summary of the Play, Mother Courage  |
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