Like me, Aubrey has two middle names. Anne, from her
mother, and Everly from, of course, the Everly Brothers. Her last name comes
from me, at least until she marries. She knows all of that. What she doesn’t
know is how her first name was chosen.
Partly, it is from the
Bread song, as she thinks, but mostly it comes from this guy. His name is
Aubrey, and I really liked his name.
When I was playing basketball, Aubrey was one of the
guys who used to come. He was an excellent and generous basketball player, not
afraid to take the shot, but unlike most of the guys, he wasn’t afraid to pass
or to set a pick or to play defense. That always made him fun to play with, but
mostly I liked him because he was a genuinely nice guy. A nice enough guy that
I named a child after him.
Nearly 15 years later, I bumped in to Aubrey the other night
at the store. I knew I recognized him, but couldn’t place him. Work somewhere?
One of the colleges? Oh, I know. Basketball. I introduced myself, and he
remembered right away. He was taken aback when I told him about his namesake,
visibly moved. “Well, that is a real honor,” he said.
If he knew my Aubrey, he
would know exactly how true that is.
