#3--Letter to my grandson about my wanting to be the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers

Remember the day we made marshmallow sculptures with toothpicks?

Dear Xavier,

I used to be a newspaper reporter a long time ago.  And I remember when I spelled somebody's name wrong the editor gave me a lecture about names and how they were a person's most important possession.

Lone Ranger and me

Names are important, as well as fun.  My mom would tell people about how people would ask me my name when I was your age and I would either answer Roy Rogers or the Lone Ranger.  

They were actors who played cowboys on their radio shows and they

Uncle Wes could be a real smiler.  My mother is sitting next to him.

were heroes.  They were always saving somebody who needed real help.  

The Lone Ranger wore a mask and had a horse named Silver. Roy Rogers had a horse named Trigger and while saving somebody, he would sing a song.

I would listen to their stories on an old brown radio in our living room.  I wouldn't move as the action was described.  I remember the Lone Ranger and his helper Tonto and how there was never anything too hard for them.

But, what about my name?  How did I get the name Wesley?

I was named after my Uncle Wes.  He did ride horses when he was a boy when he grew up on the farm in the Thumb of Michigan.  

But his ride of choice was a fast car and, preferably one he worked on. He was a skilled auto mechanic who had his own gas station.  He loved the sound of engines.

He was a man who had a big smile and a loud laugh.  Uncle Wes also had a big temper. If somebody crossed him, he could really get angry.  When that happened, it seemed like the earth would move.

When I was born my dad wanted me to be named after his father, Durward.  I was supposed to be Durward Dale Thorp.  My initials would have been D-D-T.

But, I was born a couple of minutes after midnight on August 31, 1946 on my Uncle Wes' birthday.  They decided to name me after him.

Think about your name, Xavier Dominick.  It's special and just for you.  It's one that God picked out of his name book and gave it to you.

I love you,

Grandpa Thorp