Unlike his brothers, Camden Tate had a name mere months into the pregnancy – the result of learning his sex ahead of time and knowing without a doubt that Dan and I needed to agree upon a name befitting a boy. As we had with Keats and Wren, we wanted Baby #3 to have a name of significance – and oh, does he…
When Dan and I met a decade ago, he was living in an area of London called West Hampstead. I lived in easy reach of the city in the practical commuter town of Surbiton. Surbiton offered a walk along the river into Kingston-Upon-Thames for picnics, grocery shopping, and movies. West Hampstead, on the other hand, offered access to a treasure trove of sights. We spent our London date nights, date days, and date weekends exploring. The Tube delivered us to Covent Garden for perusing market stalls, the BT Tower for my school\’s fundraising auction, Primrose Hill for a view of the city, the London Zoo for a behind-the-scenes tour, and St. Pancras Station for Eurostar departures to Bruges and Paris. Each of these, along with the house Dan shared with three friends, were in the same London borough: Camden.
The Tate of Camden\’s middle name was in the running for both of his brothers. For Cam, this name goes hand-in-hand with his first name as it reflects the location of his parents\’ first date in London\’s Tate Modern Art Museum. And both names connect him to his brothers: The poet John Keats had a home in Hampstead, within the Borough of Camden, and across the Thames from the Tate Modern stands Sir Christopher Wren\’s St. Paul\’s Cathedral.
Initially, Cam\’s name reflected purely geographical significance, but – as with the bigger brothers\’ names – his name ultimately revealed itself to contain multiple layers.
Having chosen \”Camden,\” I began to wonder why the borough was so named. Naturally, Google provided me with the answer, leading me in the direction of a gentleman by the name of Charles Pratt, the 1st Earl of Camden. Mr. Pratt was an 18th century lawyer, judge, and politician with an interest in civil liberties. Given the political climate into which my Camden was born, and given that I carried him with me to Washington, D.C. for the Women\’s March just days after a pregnancy test revealed his presence, this secondary layer felt important to recognize.
Whereas Keats and Wren grew into their names with personalities that fittingly match their namesakes, Camden\’s name strangely seems to have dictated the path of my pregnancy. The Scottish origin of \”Camden\” means \”winding valley.\” Although Camden\’s birth went completely as planned, at last offering me the home water birth that I\’d envisioned for so long, the 37 weeks leading up to his arrival were indeed winding ones. Within those weeks, I navigated the plethora of challenges in place for a woman planning a home birth in Michigan. The story itself is a long and winding one with too many details to include in a blog entry that\’s already getting close to outstaying its welcome on your screen, and yet it\’s a story worth sharing at a later date.
For now, I\’ll leave you here as I take advantage of the older boys being at school while the youngest snuggles with me at home, a little boy with a big name and – if he\’s anything like his parents -a future full of adventures.
To Palimpsest 