Bright Dais Ahead is the name of our blog and family adventure. While we found it to be incredibly clever and obvious how we derived our name, we want to elaborate on how the name came to be. What does the name mean?
Bright
Bright is short for Brighton. Her name came from my surname, Brightwell. Back when I was 16 years old, I had a girl in my annual class named Brighten, and she went by Brightie. I just loved the name and thought if I ever had a girl, I would call her Brighton as I thought the “O” would have more name power than an “E” as an adjective. I have held on to wanting to name a daughter Brighton for more than 20 years. As a daughter and the end of the Brightwell name, I wanted to honor and pay homage to my surname.
Dais
Dais is a play on days and short for Daisy. Now I didn’t immediately like the name Daisy, but the name has a long lineage, and signs given from above which sealed the fate of her name. John’s oldest daughters are named Alyssa and Caroline. When I said I wanted to call one twin girl Brighton, he said the “A,” “B,” “C” Nens girls need a “D” sister. Ugh! All “D” names sound deplorable to me (no offense Diane’s, Delores’, Deidre’s, and Destiny’s of the world!) Figuring I could try for a cute girl Dylan, I started my campaign.
John campaigned hard, too, for Daisy. Daisy was his grandmother’s name, and he felt it had much symbolism. I was holding out for “Dylan.”
Shortly before the girls were born, while John’s parents were visiting, he asked his mother what his great grandmother’s name was. She couldn’t remember and placed a call to a few relatives. Low and behold, her name was Daisy! John considered this a sign…I was still unconvinced.
A few weeks later, I went into early labor and put on the antepartum wing at the hospital to stop my labor. As the day progressed, so did my labor. I was wheeled to the other side of the hospital to move to active labor area of the hospital.
Wheeling down the hall, there hung a huge banner saying, “nominated your nurse for a Daisy Award.” This sign was too big for John to not bring to my attention. Again, I was rallying for Dylan and thought a flower name such as Daisy wasn’t strong enough for my warrior princess!
No attempts to stop my labor worked, and the babies were born at 31.5 weeks or eight weeks early. The babies were immediately whisked up to the NICU, and I wasn’t able to see them or give them kisses. John followed the girls, and I was left alone in the surgery room with just the doctor and intern, chit-chatting about hunting season. (Not appropriate cesarean conversation!)
When I was finally wheeled up to the NICU, John had the craziest grin on his face. The NICU is set up in sections named after plants and flowers of Kansas, such as “sunflower,” “tulip,” “cactus.” There, at the end of Daisy Drive, were my twins. A sign hung over my head, the third sign I had received, and a sign I could no longer ignore.
Baby A came charging in at a tiny 3 pound, 3 ounces, and just needed a little oxygen, as her placenta sack had broken a full 24 hours earlier giving her time to strengthen her lungs. This dainty Daisy was no wilting flower! From the very beginning, she was a fighter and stood her own ground even if it was in a small incubator.
Baby B, came only 45 seconds later. She was the bigger twin weighing in at 3 pounds, 13 ounces. She needed a little help breathing initially and was put on a c-pap machine to assist her. Being the bigger twin and baby B, seemed like a natural fit to give her the name Brighton.
What’s in a name?
My colleague and friend, Kyle, asked me if I had concerns about Bright Dais Ahead, sounding like life wasn’t already bright? I do see his point and, like his alternative suggestion as a play on words like “Bright New Dais.” In this life, I have strived to approach all of life with a positive spin, good days, or bad days, there is always Bright Dais Ahead. Or in the words of Scarlett O’Hara, “After all, tomorrow is another day!”
My favorite movies as a kid were Annie, Pollyanna, and Gone With the Wind. All three of these movies had strong female characters, but they also shared a fantastic outlook on life, even in the darkest days. These characters persevered and thrived in good times and especially hard times. Annie said, “The sun will come out tomorrow,” or Pollyanna noted, “there is something about everything that you can be glad about if you keep hunting long enough to find it.”
Bright Dais Ahead –
We hope this blog inspires you. We hope to learn and teach along the way. We want to provide support, community, and assistance for those needing a little push in life to find your dreams and bright days. And most of all, we hope this journey brings our paths to cross with all of you for the Bright Dais Ahead.
We want to hear from you! What names have meanings to you? Do you have a mantra you live by?