Just for RGV Moms

By Allyson Reynolds Dixon

Twitter: @MonitorAllysonD

Naming babies is never easy. We just got lucky.

Eric was easy. I was young, in home economics and had to sew something. So I made those “initial” pillows for him. We were sure he was a girl – so sure that when I delivered, the doctor said, “It’s a boy.” His dad, Larry, and I looked at each other as though surely Dr. Huser had missed the gender portion of anatomy class. We were meant to have a girl.

But, hedging my bets in home economics, I chose neutral colors and the baby would either be Erin Lee or Eric Lee.

And when we were told he was a boy, my first thought was “Why in the world did we ever want a little girl? Little boys are perfect.”

His name was chosen because my dad is Lee Allen, Mom is Lee Ann, and I’m Lee Allyson, so the Lee part was a no-brainer. One of his great-grandfathers is Eris Lee. I’m still not clear how we came up with Eric or Erin, but we did, and he had initial pillows that would go both ways, and everything was fine.

Selecting Michael’s name also was a no-brainer. Of course, since we both were sports writers at the time, everyone assumed we were naming him after Michael Jordan and Nolan Ryan.

We named him after the man who was our sports editor when we met – Mike Lee – and Ryan White. We selected the name of one of the people we love the most and then one of a little boy who broke incredible barriers.

I mention all of this because today – Feb. 9, 2012 – is the 20^th anniversary of Magic Johnson’s return to the basketball court. He played in the All-Star game three months after he let the world know he was HIV positive.

At the time, HIV and AIDS were largely stigmatized as something that only happened to “gay people” and it was their fault they were in that situation. Since then, however, we seem to have gained understanding about the disease. Ryan White and Magic played big roles in that.

When Michael was still very little, he asked how we picked his names. I explained that we named him after Mike, who is one of his two godfathers; Eric’s dad is the other. And then I told him about Ryan White and what a brave boy he was. We explained that Ryan was courageous because despite the fact that he was dying , he fought to be able to attend classes.

A few years later, I took him to see the NAMES AIDS Memorial Quilt, and he saw Ryan’s name. He paused and then said, “Mommy I’m named after him.” His response even at his very young age at the time was, “Because he was a boy of great courage and he fought to be able to go to school.”

Ryan White died April 8, 1990 – six years after he was diagnosed. He died of because a blood transfusion he had received was tainted.

Think about that. Just six years. And then think about Magic Johnson today – 20 years since his announcement, and he’s alive and seems like the picture of health.

I guess you could say medicine has progressed to the point that HIV or AIDS aren’t a death sentence. And that’s probably part of it, and that’s important.

But I also think that because of the Ryan Whites and Magic Johnsons of the world, society has progressed to the point that the stigma has largely gone away. When you have a 12-year-old boy with hemophilia who just happened to get a bad bag of blood and a world-class athlete as your poster people … well that takes a lot of stereotyping out of the equation.

So to Magic Johnson, after 20 years, you just keep on keeping on. And to Ryan White, thanks for your legacy of courage and perseverance.

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