Namesake

Dear Noble,

You are almost 10 months old now. You are the spitting image of your father. You are crawling everywhere and getting braver as you take a few steps between objects. You love real food and spoons and music. You are a joy to every member of your family.

You have been named after two great men. Noble -- your great grandfather on your father's side, and Morgan, your maternal grandfather. They are both wonderful examples in so many ways. But today I want to tell you about your grandfather, my father, and why I gave you his name.

My father is the fifth child in his family. He had 4 older sisters. I wanted you to remember that you shared this family placement with him. It isn't always easy for a little boy to have four older sisters. And even though you only have three to deal with, I wanted you to remember that really there are four to look up to. 

I hope your grandfather lives long enough for you to really get to know him. He is an amazing man that your father and I both admire very much. He has one of the most loving and selflessly giving hearts of any man I know. Countless times as a child I remember him going out of his way to help a friend or a stranger. Whether it was helping with a midnight repair or driving to California to pick up a stranded friend of a friend of a friend whose car broke down. Your grandfather was there to serve.

And his service continues even more now in his retirement years. Grandad used to be an attorney for the county. He retired several years ago and and since served two missions with Nana. They have helped many people around the world on these Humanitarian service missions to Serbia and Kenya. 

Today Grandad and Nana were driving in the car to California to go to Aunt Nikki's babies shower. Grandad got a phone call from a man in Salt Lake City who works for LDS Humanitarian Services. Recently there was a very big earthquake on an island called Haiti. The results were completely devastating. Many campaigns for aid have been underway to help the people of this small nation. 

The man on the phone wanted to know if your grandfather would be able to fly down to Haiti in 5 days to help build temporary housing for the people of Haiti. Your grandfather is now 73, but he is strong and one of the hardest workers I have ever known. He knows how to build and fix things. He loves to build. He loves working with tools and doing projects. And he loves to help people. 

Could there have been any better project for him than this? I don't think so. Without hesitation he accepted the assignment. He will be leaving Monday for Haiti. We are not sure how long he will be gone, maybe 2 or 3 weeks. We know he will do much good and have a great experience while he is there. 

You should know what a wonderful man he is Noble. I hope you will know him well as you grow so that you can grow up to be like him. There are many "Morgans"in our family. They are all honorable, steadfast, and worthy men. But you are named after my father Morgan D. Harris and I hope you will strive to develop the innate charity that he so beautifully exemplifies with his life.

Love,

your Mother Stephanie