The night before Atticus was born I was laying in my hospital bed and I could sort of see the writing on the wall. This baby was coming sooner rather than later, though at that moment I had no idea how soon. I knew we needed to choose a name for him and that it would need to be a strong name if he was going to make it through what he had ahead of him. I started thinking about all the qualities I would like my son to have. I want him to be strong both physically and morally. I want him to have integrity. I want him to know which battles are worth fighting and which ones you just have to let go. I asked myself what name would exemplify these qualities? Then it came to me, Atticus Finch.
For those who haven't read it, Atticus Finch is one of the heroes of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. He is a small town lawyer in Alabama during the 1930's he fights against injustice and inequality and tries to teach his children that they need look at all things from different perspectives before they cast judgement. I really think you should read the book if you want to understand the type of man Atticus Finch is. He has for years been one of my heroes, one of those characters whose character I have tried to emulate.
Anyway, I have again digressed into pontification. Early the morning Atticus was born I asked Joe what he thought about the name. He said he would think about it. A couple hours later there we were in the delivery room with our newborn son, as Joe was walking away to go to the NICU with our son he asked, "so Joseph Atticus?" and I said, "yes". And with that we had our little Atticus.
