When Marilyn had her first amniocentesis during her pregnancy with Faith, we elected to learn the child's sex. A girl! We were thrilled to learn that we were going to have a little girl.

We quickly decided on a first name. Being sensible, I decided not to tell Marilyn the whole "it came in a dream" story. She liked my suggestion and Faith's first name was quickly decided.

Marilyn then announced that she wanted to pick the middle name. "It has to start with an 'E'," she said. "I've always liked that my middle name starts with an 'E'." Like me, Marilyn did not reveal all of her sentimental reasons for this request. It was only during Faith's last days that I learned that Marilyn had noticed that the letter 'E' cropped up in the middle name for several generations on her mother's side. Faith would now extend this unintentional "tradition":

• Faith Emily Altbush
• Marilyn Elaine MacLeod
• Beatrice Elizabeth McClay
• Mary Evelyn Ellen Browne