I am a member of a German Fraternity, Corps Franconia. We fence and accept any member, no matter which political, religious or ethical background that person is. I loved being an active member and also joined the London meetings. As an alumni I support the younger generation. It works like a pension system – just that it really works. When I was younger I got cheap beers and accommodation and now the younger generation does.

Anyhow, the reason for posting here are thoughts I have as a new daddy. We named our son Colin after my wife’s late brother and Heinrich after my granddad. These names have both history and Heinrich even tradition within our family. It was important for me to give my son a name that is related to both our family histories.

My wife and I want to teach our son where his names are coming from and what they mean to us and hopefully what they might mean to him. You might think of Hellinger and any pressure we might put him under. But we don’t want to put any pressure on him at all. At the end of the day it is his decision what he wants to do with his history and whether he likes to carry on the tradition, maybe naming his children after his granddad or dad We just want him to be connected to his roots. A Scottish-German boy, born in England. His god parents are German, Scottish, English-Turkish and Kenian-Indian. We love to give him the influence of the country we live in.

At his birth, without asking, I assume we had about 10 nationalities. African, European, Asian…..and that is what makes London so great. However, coming back to tradition, as said initially, it is not important to have a shrine and keep ashes of loved ones or of your family history in there. It is about passing the values on, family values in particular, keeping dreams and rituals alive in a society where all of those individual ones seem to be melted together.

I just hope that Colin will grow up with an understanding of his history and tradition and that he values the same things his families has done for years. To grow up to be a Clouston-Ballueder and to be the one that carries on with the tradition. There is a lot of hope on these small shoulders, but it is with love, support and no pressure whatsoever. I just wanted to write about, how proud I am of having this wee man and thank my wife!

If Colin reads that in a few years time, he might be laughing at his old man, however – just some personal thoughts

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Related posts:

1. Reunification – a personal reflection
2. godparents
3. Colin Heinrich Ballueder