Your turn at the Soapbox

Hey guys,

Josh's baby boy will have 'James' for a middle name. You should know that they always liked the name James and I think James E Talmage is a hero of Josh's, but still the same.........I'm very honored; in fact, it means the world to me.

You know, names are special......names have meanings and oft times are given in honor or remembrance of a special person. Names carry with them a responsibility of sorts to live up to the name's honor.

I truly don't feel deserving of someone sharing a name with me, but it definately makes me want to be a better person so that I don't bring the name any disgrace.

Just some quick history on the name of James in my family:

My papa McCann shares the same name as me. He is a great man and still living in Scotland. He was born in Ireland as an Irish Catholic.......so you can imagine the heads he turned by marrying a Protestant in the war-torn country.....he was even excommunicated for doing so. He has had a limp his whole life due to a grenade explosion he survived in World War II (he never complains how he got it, but is proud of the service he rendered). He became sour to religion, but oddly was my father's biggest supporter during my dad's mission.

My dad, another James, is a convert to the church and the first LDS missionary to serve from the Greenock Branch of Scotland. For those of us who served European missions, we realize how rare it is to find someone willing to listen to the message let alone be willing to be baptized. I guess you can say that my dad was special.

I look up to these men for doing what they thought was right despite so much opposition. I strive to be worthy of sharing a name with them. Now, thanks to the Ferrins, I have much more to strive for.

I love you all, you have had such a lasting influence on my life, I don't know where I'd be without the boys. I believe that families are together forever and I believe that God is merciful enough that we might be together as well.

Don't worry, all of this sentimental behavior will die off soon enough......miss you guys.