Losing the Triple Crown

My cousin and I share the same middle name, which is also Mom’s middle name. The coincidence there was that we were all born in years with a Triple Crown horse racing winner. Mom got Citation (1948), my cousin got Seattle Slew (1977) and I got Big Red, Secretariat (1973). So when Steve told me Ali was pregnant, I joked that we should lay a huge bet on a Triple Crown winner in 2010, if Steve followed quasi-family tradition and gave the firstborn the father’s middle name. (Steve and I were both second born, hence the maiden/middle thing.)

Well, don’t get your hopes up or your bets down. The baby got his mom’s middle name, and his full name sounds great when said altogether. Very statesmanlike. In fact, when Ali scolds him by his full name in the future it’s going to sound like she’s giving an oath of office. And I kind of like the idea of not risking the Triple Crown streak, just retiring it while we’re all ahead.

Of course, his brother’s expecting his first child this year …