Your first name always means you. Even if a crowd of people around you have your name, when you hear your name called, you always turn around. For that name truly belongs to you alone.
Your name is something you can always count on. It links you to the past and shows that you belong to someone. Your name can also indicate what part of the world you come from.
The importance of your first name really hit home with me a couple of months ago. My brother called me one night with some news. He mentioned the name, “John Beltzer.”
I knew little about John Beltzer except for the fact he was a songwriter. I was sure my brother knew even less than I do. He is an athlete and not into music in a big way. So I was surprised at what he said next.
“He’s doing something sensational,” my brother exclaimed. “He has teamed up with David Lee Roth, Michael Bolton, Billy Joel and Ronnie Spector.” He went on to tell me they were writing songs for sick and dying children. Their song tells a little story about the child and it repeats the child’s name a few times. Beltzer and his group record the song and can get it to the child within a couple of weeks. Of course, if the child's condition is grave and there is no time to wait, they can get it to him or her in 24 hours.
And all this is absolutely free. Their work is supported by contributions.
My brother described how the children, even the littlest tots, listened to their song with their name in it over and over again. It comforts them and they fall asleep listening to it.
I could see the scene in my mind’s eye. The little song with their name kept them safely bound to their parents. The outside world could not harm them. For a little while, they were safe from the medicines and the disease.
That night I sat down and cried.
