blogs

So this weekend was the Feast of St. Nicholas in the Catholic Church. I wish I could say I knew that before my mom came over (I may have mentioned she has gone dotty for this child) with an armload of gifts for the whole family commemorating the occasion. The truth is, Nicholas was named for a line from the John Cusack movie "The Sure Thing." "Elliott? You can't name a kid Elliott. Elliott is a fat kid with glasses who eats paste. You need a name ... like Nick! ... Nick's your buddy!" I really wanted Julian, but thanks to another, far less good 1980s movie, that was a nonstarter for my husband. So, anyway, it's Nicholas and that's a good thing because he really is a Nicholas.

But I got to thinking and I did some research, because although I knew there was a St. Nicholas, obviously, I didn't know much about him. Turns out he was a young man born in what is now Turkey. His parents, both very devout, died when he was young, leaving him an interitance he was determined to use to help the needy. There was a man in his village who had three daughters, but no money for a dowry, so he was going to sell them into prostitution.  Nicholas went to the house, threw a bag of gold through the window in the middle of the night, and the oldest daughter got to get married. He did the same for the other two; the legend goes that the bags fell into stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry. Nicholas went on to become a bishop, and is now known as the patron saint of children and sailors, and anyone who needs protection. I really liked that story. And given all we went through to get our Nicholas, it seemed appropriate.

Still, though, he's going to have to see the movie someday.