Shirley Elizabeth

When I was in MI, I visited a number of people, including my grandpa. As of late, my grandfather has been sifting through photos, especially those of my late grandmother.

For those of you who are not aware, my grandmother was called by the Lord on October 23, 1985. This took place exactly one month and two days after my older brother was born, her first grandchild. When I was born a few years later, I was the first granddaughter, and my parents (especially my mother) decided to honor my mom's mom by christening me with her name - Shirley Elizabeth.

Shirley is of old-English origin, meaning "bright meadow" or "white meadow" ("shir" = white/bright, "ley" = clearing/meadow) It was formerly a male name. As the story (rumor) goes, Shirley Temple's parents named her before she was born, and they were hoping for a boy. When she was born and clearly a girl, they kept the name. Given Shirley Temple's popularity, numerous girl babies born in the 1930s were given that name, which is why most "Shirleys" nowadays are women of the age ~70-80. Shirley Temple was also one of the first women to speak openly about her personal experience with breast cancer....hmm...
Elizabeth is of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's promise" or "God is my oath." This name was made popular in the 16th-century by Queen Elizabeth I, making it an English name to many.
From this, one can infer that Bradley means broad clearing ("brad" = broad). So yes, my name literally means "bright meadow - God's promise - broad clearing." Cool, huh!?! What's also cool is that my Grandma Shirley is a daughter of the American Revolution, and my name is pure English...weird!

When I was going through the photos at my grandpa's house (Grandma Shirley's husband), I felt indescribably connected to the photos. Here are a few of my favorites.

Shirley with her parents. She was an only child.

It turns out that my grandma was on a postcard (The previous photo is the front)!!! I like to collect postcards. I wonder if this postcard-thing runs in the family or comes with the name.

Shirley Peterson when she was ~2 years of age.

What do you think?

Shirley Bradley when she was ~4 years old (aka - me).
Do you think the Shirleys look alike?

With all of this talk about names, I feel strongly that I should keep my birth-name when Thomas and I get married. Thomas has voiced his desire for me to take his surname, which means that I either need to drop my (father's) surname entirely, hyphenate our surnames together (potentially makes my career life easier) or adopt two middle names. Although the decision is not final, I am certainly taking Thomas' last name, and I will likely adopt two middle names, making me Shirley (Elizabeth Bradley) Dean or Shirley E.B. Dean.