Naming Rights in the By and By

Daily writing prompt

If you could have something named after you, what would it be?

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My name is a married name and not even the current marriage’s married name. My name harkens from a marriage that ended decades ago. Never mind that my name is a borrowed name, long overdue, what would I like it put on after I’m gone is the question.

I’m from Detroit, so maybe a car? A new edition Thunderbird, something very sleek and low to the ground. Thinking of the guy at the gas pump who, when I rolled up next to him in my 2005 Thunderbird, told me my car moved like a shark through still water. He was awed. I liked that. So, yes, maybe a car.

I’m from Hastings, so maybe one of the ponds at the Fish Hatchery? We went ice skating there in the fifties – my brother, sister, and I – while our mom sat in the car waiting. My brother speared frogs there. He brought them home in a bag and my mother cooked their legs which was wild because the legs danced in the iron frying pan. I can see it now.

I’m from Milwaukee, so a fallen tree along Lincoln Memorial Drive? A few years ago, somebody painted a tree lying on the hillside a deep, profound red. It wasn’t spray-painted. It was painted by hand. You could tell that even from the road – the color was so thick and purposeful. Dead trees stay on the hillside until they rot into the earth so there’s a permanence there that might not exist with a car or a pond, for that matter, global warming being what it is.

Just thinking about it – having this visible legacy in the world is, yes, a true tonic for the soul.