Monday, October 09, 2006

Naming rights

Mordechai (6): I'm going to name my first kid Avi 'cuz that's Sabba's name. And if it's a girl, I'll name her Elisheva like Savta.

Me: Usually, Ashkenazi Jews like us only name after people who have already passed away.

Mordechai (quite matter-of-factly): Yeah, I know. But they'll probably be dead by then.

Me: I don't think so. You know, they're not that old.

Mordechai (starting to calculate): Well, I will probably start looking for a wife when I'm twenty and Sabba and Savta are around 55, right? It might take me a while to find someone so let's say I get married when I'm 23 or 24. So they'll be around 75 and that's pretty old....

Me: I see. Well, I hope they'll still be living to see you have lots of kids.

A note to the reader: This is a true story!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That is some amazing math...And really a scary commentary on what is old! (75 isn't that far away!)

Kiwi the Geek said...

Wow, I bet you're glad Sabta & Savta weren't around to hear that! I remember when I was about ten and my sister was six, my mom wanted to interview her 90yo grandma about her life, because she's into history and genealogy. One of us girls told Grandma, "We're gonna make a tape so we can listen to you after you're dead!" Fortunately, Grandma still did the interview.