Violet

“Penny for your thoughts…” she looked up and said, “Mum, how did you and dad meet?”

Her mother looked back and smiled. “It was a long time ago, when online chat rooms used to be a big thing for us teenagers. We ended up discussing a show in a city-based chat room.”

“Slowly, we started talking more often. We talked of books we liked and movies and music. We really liked talking to each other. It was months of this before your dad asked to meet me. He said, ‘You know, it’s like I’ve known you forever,’ and when he said that we should meet… I knew the perfect way to test out his proclamation…”

Her dad walks into the room mid-sentence and chimes in, “She suggested we meet in one of the biggest parks in our city, and all I knew was her onscreen name. And she asked to meet me where her favourite flowers bloom.”

She looked back at her mum and saw her smile. “Well, since he ‘knew me since forever,’ I didn’t see why he shouldn’t be able to guess my favourite flower.”

“So there I was, sitting in the grass, reading a book. I was quite nervous to meet someone from the internet… but I looked up to see a teenage boy holding a board with my screen name and a bouquet of my favourite flowers.”

“And that’s why when he had you, we both knew Violet would be the perfect name.”