Havensong Eleanor Joy

I thought I would write a little about her name. For about 12 years I have loved the name Haven. In fact, I even tried to name Autumn that, but it just didn't fit and we changed it after her birth. (Sorry if you didn't know that, Autumn)

I felt the name was meant for the little girl I wanted to one day adopt. So I held onto it. She has had poems and songs written for her, all using the name, Haven. When I talk to Chinese people they tell me that the meaning of the name goes something like this;


"One who has flown across the sea to find paradise and live in perfect happiness."

I am guessing Haven is akin to Heaven and that is what they are referring to. I think it sums it up nicely. Throughout the years I have daydreamed that when I one day received her file, I would open it and her name would be Song and we would use it for her middle name. Autumn and I have a favorite book that we read, and the little girl's name is Song, and we would talk about how much we loved that name.
The day before we got the call, I wrote one sentence down in my journal. It said;

"God, give me a new song in my heart".

And my FB post that week said:

"Come dance with me to the Song of all Songs."

 So while on the phone with a representative from our agency I joked and said, "If I open this up, and her name is Song, I will know she is the one. I saw the name Song Zihan in the subject line and got the chills. Song is her surname, but still....it was too much. I laughed all day. It was so obvious this was going to happen. On top of all that, do you remember me talking about the little girl I fell in love with when I was 15? The one who was adopted from Korea? Her mom recently told me that the name they gave her when she came home to them means......A Song.

So I thought about calling her just Song, but I loved Haven so much too. They were equal on the scale. I couldn't choose one over the other. I didn't want Song to get lost in her middle name, I didn't want to let go of Haven. So we put them together into one name.

As for her middle names, Eleanor and Joy are her two Great Grandmothers. Eleanor is her only living Great Grandparent, and we are excited to honor her this way. My Grandmother was abducted at three years old by her nanny. Her name was changed  by her "adoptive" mother from Joy to Josephine. I always felt sad that she lost the name her Mommy gave her. I feel this is a beautiful way to bring it all full circle.