Summer Dermawan-Alsop.
The name we chose for our baby girl when she was born.
To tell you the truth, Summer’s name was a very last minute decision. Throughout my pregnancy, and when we found out she was a girl, we had decided that Rich and I would come up with a couple of names that we both really liked and would be happy with, and we would present these names to Rich’s son to name her.
Summer was not one of those names. The double barrelling of our surnames was long ago decided, but Summer was not.
When my miscarriage started and when the midwives told me that losing my baby was imminent, the names we had picked out faded away. In and amongst the grief, the trauma and shock, I said to Rich we can’t use any of the names we had picked out. In case we went on to have another daughter later and wanted to use the names. So we decided we would not name her.
When she was born (and you can read the details of that story in a previous post titled “Summer’s Story”, I remember Rich walking from my right side, round the bed to my left side and back again. He was looking at her and looking at me, and then he just said, “What about Summer?”
Through my tears, as the midwives handed me my sleeping angel, I gazed at her beautiful face and my heart swooned. “Summer! Yes, that’s her name.”
When I asked Rich why he thought Summer, he said because she was born in Summer.
However, as the time has gone by, I have come to believe that her name is not an accident. I believe God had her name picked out long before she was conceived and I believe her name means a lot.
Again, as time has gone by and I have been dwelling on her name, with adoration and awe, I realise that my favourite season is Summer. Summer time is the time where I feel my best. Due to having RA, I struggle in Winter, I struggle with the cold and I always long for the Summer, for the warmth and for the light. Also, one of my own middle names is Mentari, which is Indonesian for Sunshine. Now, the Sun is often associated with the Summer time, but we all know the Sun is always present. And you can’t have anything without the Sun. We can’t have life without the Sun. The Sun and Summer come hand in hand.
Me and Summer. She is a part of me and I am a part of her. There’s something just beautiful about that.
Summer is the perfect name for our daughter and although her name was a last minute decision on our part, it certainly was not on God’s part. It amazes me how He brings everything together. I know I keep saying this, and I will never stop saying this, nor apologise for saying this, but I am grateful for Summer. Both the season and everything it brings, and also my daughter, and everything she brings. ☀️💖
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| Summer after her second dress change before we had to leave her at the hospital for her Post Mortem. |
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