I have never been so honored in all my life. I mean, in high school, there was this girl in my vocal class that said she was going to name her baby Penny after me. But her lousy boyfriend put an end to that. Then again, I didn't really know her very well and it would have been weird. The baby would have grown up and asked me about her mom and I would have had to say, "Her? Yeah, she had a terrible voice, her last name was Johnson and ... that's about all I remember."

This kid however... This little Sophia Rene' is in for the long haul. I will teach her all about what it means to bear the burden of my grandmother's and my name.

First of all, the original Rene was actually Irene and in her last years of life this woman drove a 1971 VW bug, wore a platinum wig, cat glasses, and pantsuits. She smoked Camel cigarettes from a medium length black filter and she had a dirty mouth that would make a sailor cry. When I was in high school she sometimes was sent to take me to doctor appointments or pick me up from school. My embarrassment started a full minute before she arrived because I could hear her muffler-less VW coming a mile away. Why she took off that muffler is a question we all still ponder nearly 2 decades after her death. The woman was crazy.

Of course I'm talking about the good kind of crazy. Crazy in the fact that we have these great memories of her and whenever someone says thier grandmother is crazy I smile and know that they must love that granny very much.

When I was born my mom dropped the “I” in Irene and added the accent mark at the end of Rene, either for the hell of it or maybe to pay homage to my French ancestry - I don't know. Either way, I can tell you that little accent mark provided much aggravation for me over the years. Upon my high school graduation I had to send my announcements back twice to get the things right. I still think some intern stayed up all night putting that little mark on the end and I hope it provided him/her with a nice little job horror story to tell the family for years to come.

Anyway, Sophia is stuck with it! Ha! When she asks me about the accent mark in her name I'm going to say, "Well, that's there to ensure your insanity by the time you are 60. And if that doesn't work, just read my blogs. You will never, ever live down this wonderful curse!”

PS – August is her best friend forever whether she likes it or not.