Saturday, April 20, 2013

That which we call a Rose

Natalie Rose Clark, 7
Recently, Natalie was assigned to write an essay for her second grade class. The topic: how her name came to be "Natalie Rose."

The degree of difficulty connected with the assignment was sky high, largely because not even her parents knew how Natalie received her name. It just kind of happened. Still, she interviewed her mom and dad dutifully. When the answers were unacceptable, such as "it just sounded good," she dug a little deeper, or as you'll see by the excerpts below, she turned to her imagination to fill in the blanks.

• "This is my very own story of how Natalie became my name." (Setting the stage, she's off to a good start.)

• "Suddenly, 'Natalie' popped up in their heads like daises popping up on a spring morning." (Did this actually happen? Let us give our young author the benefit of the doubt.)

• "My middle name Rose, means flower, as simple as that, flower! I like that because I like to keep things simple and not complicated." (Insightful commentary for such a little girl.)

• "To me Natalie means author and poet because that is what I am. Natalie is the only name that can describe me perfectly." (Sigh.)

P.S. Almost two years have passed since our last entry in the Clarks of New Jersey blog. After wasting countless hours on other social media, the editors have decided to resurrect the tradition and speak more intimately to our most important readers.

Also, Happy Anniversary Mimi and Poppy!