When you were little.....

My Dad was a Merchant Sailor, he walked with a 'rolling' gait. I could recognise him from a distance approximately of a quarter of a mile.

He was of Irish descent, with tousled darkest brown curling hair.

He looked like, and sounded like Dean Martin.

He was tall, handsome, intelligent and articulate, if not always eloquent.

He drank beer.



When he called, with a lilt, "Darling....."
He meant my Mum
I remember the look on his face when he did.

I've seen and heard it said many times in many ways
But never has it been in the way my Dad did.

He called me 'Tilly-Mint' or would tousle my hair and call me 'Tatty-Head!'

When I asked my Dad, "What's a 'Tilly-mint'?", he said,
"Something 'special - a Treat'".

So when I became a Mum
Choosing my child's name was very important
I thought about names I liked
Why I liked them
Why I didn't like other names that were suggested


You'd think I'd be prepared for this

Afterall, I'd been practising all my life
Considering names


We called Our Miracle


"God's Gift of Grace", "Wished For Child"

In Hebrew