A name worth carrying

under your mother and father by honoring your name

## A Name Worth Carrying

A name is more than a collection of letters on a driver’s license,

or a signature at the bottom of a check that clears the bank.

It is a banner that precedes us into the rooms we haven't entered yet,

and the echo that remains after we have walked out the door.

I am the man who realizes that my conduct is the ink in that pen,

writing a reputation that our children will either wear with pride

or try to scrub off their skin when the world gets cold.

I am supporting you by being a man of such unshakable integrity

that being associated with my name is a shield, not a burden.

I am taking the lead on the "honor," the "keeping of the word,"

ensuring that our family name is synonymous with a promise kept.

I see the way some names are dragged through the mud of the mundane,

and the way a legacy can be traded for a moment of cheap gain.

But I am the one who guards the gate of our character at night,

making sure that the "us" we present is the same in the light.

I won’t let our children inherit a "sorry" or a "wish I had done,"

I am giving them a title that is as bright as the morning sun.

I am anchoring our dignity in the way I handle my business and my wife,

knowing that a man’s true wealth is the quality of his life.

It’s a weight of the spirit, a gravity that keeps us all on the ground,

a resonance of truth that doesn't need a loud or a hollow sound.

They don’t need a palace if they have a name that opens the heart,

a sense of belonging that was established right from the start.

I am the King who is showing the princes how to protect the brand,

and the mentor who is showing the princesses how to take a stand.

Let the world try to tell them that "fame" is the same as "respect";

we are the proof of the character that a man and a woman project.

I am the witness to the power of a woman who is truly esteemed,

the one whose husband’s loyalty was even better than she dreamed.

I am here, I am steady, and I am polishing the gold of our name,

grateful for the partner who shares the glory and the flame.

The signature is bold, and the credit is finally coming due.

**Written by King poet.