Why Floyd?

Most of you already know that Floyd is a family name. It has been given to the oldest son for three of the last four generations. The one generation that wasn't named Floyd was me. Since I'm the oldest son of my family, I was supposed to be Floyd. I can't say whether or not my mother, who pleaded with my father to not name me this, was right or not because that's not myname. However, in naming my first son, I can't think of a better tradition to carry on than to name him after three of my heroes: My great-grandfather: Floyd Delamar, my grandfather: Floyd Hill, and my dad: Floyd William.

Each of them have outstanding qualities that makes them men who I want my son to emulate. My great-grandfather was an electrical engineer for General Electric. He moved his family to Eerie, Pennsylvania and raised them there. When he arrived, he found the church to be almost a non-entity, a complete opposite to life in Tooele, Utah, where he was raised. He realized he had to make a choice: be an active, faithful member, or not be a member of the church at all. The decision he made has affected over a hundred people, including my son. He was a stalwart member of the church and a pioneer of sorts. He was a patriarch in the stake where he retired, in Orem, Utah.

Above is my grandfather. He attended school at Brigham Young University. He was there back when students were part of the bucket brigade, and carried buckets of paint up to the Y on the mountain to keep it shining white. After undergrad, he married my grandmother and took her with him to Salt Lake for law school (at a university which shall not be named). He served for many years as a District Attorney and then a judge. After serving as a regional representative, he went on a mission to New Zealand with my grandmother, where they worked as an office couple. From there, they were called to preside over the Santa Rosa California Mission. Whenever I want to talk sports, I call my grandpa. He is the greatest sports fan I know. We both love BYU sports and watching Tiger Woods play. The only difference is that I root for Tiger, while my grandpa roots against him. He loves rooting for underdogs (which in golf is anyone playing against Tiger). It is from him I get my love of storytelling. My grandfather has perfect timing in telling jokes and anecdotes.

Last we come to my dad. My dad is so many things to me. He's my biggest supporter and fan, my friend, and my teacher. He loves the gospel and he loves to serve. Often we'll talk of people who would be willing to do anything for someone, and that's my dad. He has a great balance of life. He exercises his body, mind, and spirit very equally. He's healthier than many people my age (including me), he's smart (has written and published two books), and he knows the gospel backwards and forwards. We have great conversations and it's been that way for as long as I could remember. Ever since Kat and I moved here, he and my mom have written us every week and mailed us their letters. Besides telling us about almost every meal he eats, he offers us lots of encouragement, and always reminds us that he's praying for us. My dad wants everyone to succeed, except for teams playing BYU. His greatest desire in life is to go on more missions. When he and my mom retire, they plan to go and serve. I'm so proud of him. He's the greatest example I've had in my life of righteous living, hard work, and patriotism. Plus, he thinks I'm funny and loves to read my books.

Floyd is old fashioned. There's no getting around it. But I feel as though I wouldn't be honoring these men properly by giving my son their name as his middle name. It doesn't preserve the tradition I want to carry on. So, while our son will go by Jake, his name is Floyd. I hope one day he knows what a privilege it is to have this name.

Last, I want to thank Kat for letting me name our son. I know how much she didn't want it, but she also knew how important it is to me. She's a wonderful wife and friend, but a terrific mom. I've named both our kids now, so I suppose I really owe her one. But I could go on and on about all the things I owe her for, as she's just so great. Anyway, tomorrow Floyd comes, and we're very excited.

PS Also, tomorrow I should find out whether I made the first two cuts in the Amazon book contest.