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The Gift of a Name

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Generous. Mother. Impoverished. Loving. Widow. Grandma. Debilitated. Hard-working. What's in a name? Why do labels exist? Do they have any true significance in a person's life? We called her Mom and Grandma. What a privilege it was to do so! She died just over a year ago. We've taken these past months to reflect on Mom's life journey and what she meant to our family. Through the years, Mom shared tales of growing up during the Great Depression. She was the middle child with four siblings. They were known as one of the poorest families in their community. There was some shame attached to that reputation, of course. Mom was often treated unfairly, especially when she was young. In fact, she was verbally and emotionally abused by the ones who should have protected her. "Dumb" was a common title for her while she was growing up, although she very intelligent indeed. I admired my mother-in-law immensely, because she didn't allow her harsh be...