It was a year ago today that my cousin Greg passed away. When his funeral was held I was in the hospital and Martin and I, not knowing if our baby was a boy or a girl, decided that if a boy, his middle name would be Gregory in honor of his cousin.

Three short weeks later, months earlier than expected, our son was born. Twelve hours after that he went into surgery and we were told he had a "fifty-fifty" chance of making it through surgery. After surgery, the odds seemed even slimmer. Throughout these heartwrenching days we were regularly pressured by the "birth certificate" people to give our dear "Dinky" a name. Martin and I had many tearful discussions about what to do. In the end we decided that if our little one didn't pull through, which it appeared he might not, we didn't want the family to lose two "Gregs" in such a short period of time. So we didn't put a middle name on the birth certificate.

He pulled through. And what better way to honor our cousin and friend. Martin and I have begun the legal process of changing Dinky's name.
Please meet our son: Edison Gregory Ruef