Elena Cleo Ross Ludwig

If you haven’t heard – we had a baby! Elena Cleo Ross Ludwig was born September 25, 2012 at 9:22 pm.

Alli & I are so proud and honored to welcome Elena!

She is the:

Great-great-grand-daughter of Lona Cleo & Arthur, Dorothy & Frank, Giuseppi & Ugolina, Margaret & George, Mildred & Arthur, Rachel & Max, Anna & Barney, Rebecca & Abraham.

Great-grand-daughter of Edith & Charles, Florence & Jules, Helen & Corwin, Gina & Milton

Grand-daughter of Ann & David, Betty & Charles

Daughter of Alli & Erich

Elena – a popular Greek, Spanish, Romanian and Italian version of the ancient Greek name Helen/Helene, meaning “light” and “beautiful”. Also used in Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian, German, and Medieval Slavic cultures. The Elena variation of Helen dates back to the 12th century.

In these various cultures it means: the bright one, light, mercy, torchlight, sun ray, shining light…

Elena – Helen & Edith (and E is for all the other E names in our families)

Cleo – Helen & her mother Lona (both of their middle names), C is also for Charles & Charles, Corwin and all the other C names in our families)

Elena Cleo was born on Kol Nidre of the Jewish Year 5773. Kol Nidre is part of the “10 Days Of Awe” during the most holy part of the Jewish ritual year, and signals the start of Yom Kippur – the most holy day of the year. In our reading, an aspect of these holidays includes asking others to forgive us for any wrongs or offenses from the past year. It is also when we invoke that divine internal light to bring us into the new year.

As we know that she has already brought huge amounts of light into our life in just a few short/long weeks, our wish for Elena is that she carry on the strength, light and wisdom of the women in our lineage.

If you’d like to see some pictures I am posting them on Flickr and they are viewable ONLY to those who are my contacts on Flickr – if you don’t know how to make that happen – please let me know and I’ll walk you through the simple process.

We are blessed with abundance in our life in many ways. We are also blessed with privileges we’ve not earned. Elena will benefit from these privileges and our abundance. And she is already benefitting from the generosity of friends and family who have given us and her so much.

While we LOVE and are THANKFUL for all that has been given to us – we also recognize that not everyone in the world is as lucky, as blessed, or has access to the same resources we do.

So we would ask that if you are thinking about getting us/her a present – that you do us the honor of donating to a group working on issues concerning women and/or children instead.

While we have our thoughts as to what those organizations are – we’re sure you have a favorite organization close to you.

Some causes we hold dear:

Batoumas Girls Fund – Our dear friend Sophie relays this story of heartbreak in such a way as to make us cry each time we read it. We know that birth is not easy – and that in many places it still is a life or death experience. We also know that Sophie will ensure that these wonderful girls get the full advantages of education.
- Update on this from Sophie – “When I sent that email, it was after days of nervousness, and I worried that my goal of $1500 was too high. In just one week, I raised over $5000. This will pay for all three girls’ schooling for the next 10 years. I have set up a savings account in their name and will continue to accept contributions – maybe one day, they will go to college. But for now, I just want to hug everybody. It means so so much to me to remember Batouma this way. The support is overwhelming.” – to see a picture of the girls in matching green dresses on their first day of school in fall 2012 click thru this link.
Planned Parenthood – An organization that continues to do great work under serious pressure and politicized scrutiny.
Somerville Homeless Coalition – local group working on an issue that disproportionately affects women and children.

With much love & such beautiful new light.

-E & A & e