It's My Birthday (And a Bit About My Name)

I'm 74 today. It is the Third Day before the Nones of July, the Feast of St Anthony Mary Zaccaria, and the 186th day of the year.

I share my birthday with the date of death of Ísleifur Gissurarson, First Bishop in Iceland (1080), the day Isaac Newton published The Principia (1687), the treason that gave birth to the Republic of Venezuela (1811), the first Cook's Tour in history (1841), the birth of the great Imperialist, Cecil Rhodes (1853), and the date of the introduction of Spam 'luncheon meat' (1937).

When my parents were expecting me they decided to name me Francis John. My Aunt Dora, a rather domineering woman, announced that 'Francis' was a girl's name. Rather than upset her, my parents meekly decided to change it to her choice, Anthony John (I became Jovan on my reception into Orthodoxy). 

Two things about this exchange are interesting. One is that the original choice, Francis John, would have 'made me a Franciscan'. LOL! St Francis of Assisi's baptismal name was Giovanni (John). Francesco (Frenchy) was a nickname given to him by his father, a merchant who traded into France.

The other is that I ended up being baptised Anthony John. I'm sure that neither Aunt Dora, a protestant, nor my equally protestant parents had absolutely any idea that it was the Feast of a St Anthony!

My Mother sadly got her Francis, when my half-brother was stillborn. He was buried as Francis Allen. Years later, she got a grandson named Francis Scott and today is also his birthday. He was my 25th birthday present. On our 53rd and 28th birthdays, we both got a present, his son, Noah, who is 21 today.