“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?–John 14:1-2
I named my first-born Rani Joy. My husband and I chose that name because of the meaning of the word he came across in a book, Kontiki, that he was reading at the time of my pregnancy. It is the story of the voyage made by five men in 1947. Rani is the Polynesian word for heaven. In my pregnant state, I agreed that it would be a lovely name for my first baby.
When Rani was six months old, and in my arms at the grocery store, I picked up a copy of What To Name Your Baby. The book listed names with their origins and meanings. Rani, as it turned out, is also the Hindi word for queen. Right there at that moment, my baby became a queen from heaven,
Nine years later, she passed away from her injuries, suffered five years earlier, from an automobile accident. That was 35 years ago.
Just recently I met a woman named Rani. I was at the day long Brain Injury conference. I didn’t sign up for the first round of workshops, so I was able spend time with the many vendors there to advertise their services. I shared my story with a few people. My story brought me to tears, as I said what happened in my life 40 years ago. I was talking to a woman who just happened to be wearing her assistant’s name tag. As I got to the part of my story when my daughter died, and I mentioned her name, this woman started nodding. Since I always follow that part of the story by adding the two definitions of her name, I continued telling the story of why and how my daughter’s name came to be. Now, I say, she is a queen in heaven. She has become what I have always called her. ♥️
Bless us, we pray, with the assurance that the ones we love are with you in heaven, O God.
–Debbie Osborn