Like so many other moms and dads to be, we sat around with baby books looking for the perfect name for or daughter. We knew what names we didn't want and now had to focus on the ones we did.
Sen was a name I had in my back pocket way before I was pregnant but was worried I was the only one between us who'd like it so initially when I found out I was pregnant I kept it to myself.
I picked the name because I felt it was important to me and I felt it would be important to her father too for a number of reasons but that all remained to be seen until I revealed my name choice. I wanted a name that wasn't common (or commonly American) and had meaning and what could have more meaning that a beautiful name from Vietnam.
Sen's father was adopted in 1975 during the fall of Saigon and because of that he has not tangible link to his country of origin. I always feel that some kind of connection is to your origin and heritage is important and I think passion about that is very common in the black community. African Americans often refer to Africa as the Mother Land and lament about having no knowledge of our countries of origin within Africa our tribes or languages.
Sometimes the connection you have with your birthplace can be something all encompassing like a journey and travel across the country, immersing yourself in the culture and language or sometimes something small like a three letter name with a beautiful meaning can have tremendous impact and create deeper bonds.
Initially her she was going to have a Vietnamese name and an African one. Seemed like as cool idea. But I saw a segment on this restaurant and that all went out the window. The place is in Manhattan and is called Petite Abeille. I thought it was too cute. And her father liked it too. So there it is Sen Abeille.
Now there are a couple of funny things about 1) The pairing of the names Vietnamese and French and 2) the meaning of Abeille which is bee. Complete, utter and total coincidences!!! Yet still a little funny.
