I accidentally named my child after the boy that left me at prom

I just realized my second son’s name bears a striking resemblance to the name of the boy that was my prom date junior year but went home with another girl.

How did I get left at prom, you ask? Technically, it was not at prom. There was this baseball boy that I had a crush on who happened to be a year younger than me. We had hung out several times as the weather warmed that Spring and even cruised the square a couple times, which if you grew up where we did that makes it official. If you cruise the square as a pair, you are a couple. It’s like changing your status to “In a Relationship” on Facebook these days. Darn kids and their electronic cruising.

I ended up asking him to prom, and he said yes. That night we went to dinner with another couple, danced at prom and then headed to an after party that just happened to be two doors down from my house. We parked his truck at my parents’ house and walked to the party through a field or two (two doors down is actually not just a few yards away). The party was fun, and while we weren’t by each others’ side the entire time, we had gone together. Next thing I know, he was gone. No goodbye or anything…just gone. A couple people saw him leave with another girl, and I said, “whatever.” I wanted to be that cool girl that acted like nothing bothered her, but really I was thinking, “What the …?”

The next Monday at school, she was wearing his lettermans jacket, and he was wearing her class ring on a necklace around his neck. No, I did not grow up in the 1950s, but since there had been no time for square cruising, that’s how they let everyone know they were officially a couple, and I was just the girl that he sort of hung out with and took him to prom only to get left at a party, which in the long run was okay because I stayed at that party and had a lot of fun with friends.

When coming up with names I compared each suggestion and idea to my database of boys I’ve known before and did a quick estimation of name worthiness. If I had come across someone of that name in the past and had a bad experience, that particular name was tossed out. I couldn’t help making the association. So how did this one pass through without me remembering the wronging that occurred? I think it’s because John is a rather common name, and I’d known some good Johns (name not perp) in my day. I didn’t make the association then, and really, if it were just the same first name, it’s not a big deal. It’s the addition of the middle name that starts with the initial T.

I call lil’ bear by his two names all Southern like, but yesterday, I shortened it to the first name and middle initial – John T. That’s when it hit me. Oh crap…I just named my child after the boy that left me at the after-prom party to go home with another girl. Prom date/baseball boy was called John T, not just John and not some two name thing. Everyone called him John T. I don’t even know what his middle name was, but how many T names are out there?

Really, lil’ bear is named after my great-great grandfather and his father (great-great-great). The ties to the family tree are much stronger than some stupid high school boy, but I will probably stick to the two full names or the shortening to J.T.

*I looked all over for a picture of me at prom that I could attach with this post, but I think the only evidence is in a box in the garage. Believe me, I looked hot.