CHAPTER 7: FAMILY NAMES, SOUTHERN NAMES

In Star, Mississippi, keeping up with names took more than a little work. I’m going to take you on a little tour of some of Star’s distinctive names and test your ability to keep track of who is who.

Though we are hardly unique, our family is growing its own impressive legacy among firstborn sons. My son Garrett is a fourth-generation Allen. No juniors. His name is Garrett Allen. Mine is Allen Wade. Dad’s is Luther Allen. Pop’s was Thomas Allen. I don’t know at what point this became intentional in our family, but Garrett assures me he plans to continue the unbroken line of Allens (with no juniors).

My dad introduces himself to my friends as the Allen Ainsworth. I suppose there’s truth in that statemen...

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