Diego

On the way home, Ben and I talked a lot about the puppy's name.  His name had been a point of contention for us almost since we decided to get a puppy!  It seemed that Ben disliked every name that I liked and I didn't like any of the names that he suggested.  This went on and on and on and on . . . for months!

At one point I really liked the name "Timber" and a friend suggested spelling it "Timbre" for a musical association.  I loved it and was all ready to name the puppy Timbre, or Timber.  Ben seemed open to it for a while and then he decided no, absolutely not!

He wanted to call the puppy "Dango".  This had a connection to Speedy.  When Speedy was a puppy, I could always tell when he was getting ready to go to the bathroom in the house because he kind of "danced" around.  I called that his Dango Dango Dance, and we started saying that Speedy had to Dango Dango.  To this day the phrase means "time to go out to the bathroom" to our dogs.  Ummmmmmm . . . no!

I gave up Timber so Ben would give up Dango.  So, we both gave up our favorite name choices.

We thought of lots of names, and a lot of people suggested names, but nothing really resonated.

About a week before we went to get our puppy, Ben suggested Diego.  I was open to that.  It was much, much better than Dango.

Once we met him, we also did consider keeping the name Alder, but by the time we were on the drive home, Ben had decided he didn't want to.

So, while looking for a place to eat dinner along I-80 in New Jersey, we talked about Diego.  Ben had decided that he really wanted to choose a name that had a connection to a Saint.  But he didn't want to pick a name that was a common human male first name (you know, like Dean or Sammie . . . go figure!).  For some reason he came up with Diego.  It has a connection to Saint Juan Diego and it is also a Spanish rendition of James.

I liked the connection to Saint Juan Diego because he is connected to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is the patroness of the Americas.

I asked him to remind me more about Saint Juan Diego.  Apparently he was quite determined.  He used to walk 15 miles to go to Mass.  And when commissioned with the task, he graciously and artfully asked his Bishop to build a chapel in honor of the Blessed Mother.  When the Bishop wanted a sign to show that this was an authentic request, he was given Castilian Roses to present.  This isn't the whole story, but the parts that stood out to me as Ben and I talked.

I liked these connections.  I hope that my puppy will be strong and bold and tenacious, yet artful and gracious.  I like the association with the roses.

Ben was more drawn to the idea of Saint James the Younger, so there was a double association there.

So, I agreed.  His name would be Diego.

Incidentally, we found out a couple of days later that Saturday, the day we picked Diego up, was the feast of Saints Philip and James . . . James the Younger!  Affirmation!

He is going to have a gazillion nicknames, of course!!  Digo, Little Jimmie, and last night he picked up the nickname Zorro because apparently that is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega in the story.

That's fun!

So, Diego it is!  I am already staring to enjoy saying his name in a sing-song tone, "Dyeeego!"

Oh, and less than a week at our house, he answers to it and comes running when his name is called!!

Diego on his first day home . . .