Remembering Maxine

As many of you know, we have decided to name our son after Jo’s grandma Maxine. Nan, as Jo called her, has always been so special to Jo Marie. You could even call the two of them inseparable. Whether it was a trip to Wal-mart, or just a special Saturday evening spent together, the two were always getting into some kind of trouble.

It came as a surprise mid-November when we learned that Nan had terminal cancer. Perhaps, an even bigger surprise came a couple weeks after that with a positive pregnancy test! From the beginning we knew our little boy (Jo swears that she always knew it was a boy – and points out to everyone that she saw his penis on the ultrasound before the technician did) would carry on the name of such a special person in Jo’s life.

We are so thankful that Nan was able to learn that her Jo would be having a little boy – Max would have been her first great-grandson. Although Nan’s passing this past Sunday has been hard for Jo and me, we find comfort in the fact that our little one will always have a little piece of ‘Nan’ with him.