How many . . . ?
When we first started our family business, we called it Generations Press. Our theme verse was:
. . . Future generations will be told about the Lord.
Psalm 22:30b
Our son John set up a website. However, when he searched for Generations Press online, he discovered a genealogical service in California with the same name. I remember the moment when we stood in our office in our unfinished basement and I said, “Let’s just call ourselves The Notgrass Company. There will never be any competition for that.” We decided several years later that Notgrass History was a better description of what we do.
I have been having fun with our unusual family name since 1974 when I became a Notgrass. Early in our marriage, I received a mailing to Mr. Nat Grass. I could go on and on. By far, the most common comment we get is, “If it’s not grass, what is it?”
When Vickie, who has transformed our flower garden, got ready to leave on Wednesday, I asked her for her bill. She said, “You can stop by the garden center sometime. If you haven’t been by in a month, I know where you live.” I replied that it certainly wouldn’t be a month before I stopped by.
This small flower bed is one of my favorites. The tractor tire was in this spot when we bought our house in 2003, but it has never looked so beautiful. The tire is old and worn but it’s special to me because my brother and I had a tractor tire like this one when we were small. Ours was a sandbox where we spent many happy times. I was almost four when we moved to that house, but I have vague memories of our family getting that tire for our sandbox.
Ray and I stopped by Vickie’s garden center yesterday. Finding her away at the moment and a teenage girl minding the center, I told the girl that I was there to pay a bill. I said that it was for Notgrass. She didn’t seem to know anything about the bill, so I told her that I could come back later. She said, “There are some bills here” and began to look through a stack of papers on the counter. Then she asked,
“How many Notgrasses did you buy?”
I wish you could have seen her face when I told her that Notgrass is our name. The poor dear was so embarrassed, and I confess that I couldn’t wait to get to the car to tell Ray our latest Notgrass story!
Throughout the day, I found Notgrass family members and team members to whom I could tell our latest story. Our newest team member Clayton told me that a truck driver once came to headquarters for a pickup or a delivery and asked what our company did. When Clayton told him homeschool curriculum, he said that he thought we dealt in Astroturf!
Most of us can’t pick our name (Well . . . I guess I did when I decided to say yes to Ray’s marriage proposal), but we can pick whether we have a good name or a bad name. Every day you are teaching your children how to keep a good one.
A good name is to be more desired than great wealth;
Favor is better than silver and gold.
Proverbs 22:1
I love having interesting last names. My mom grew up a Bailey which she never needed to spell out for anyone. She married an Olds and forever after was saying “Olds, not young” or “like Oldsmobile” (I used that one even after I was told they weren’t made anymore.) And now with my married name I say something like “den of cows instead of den of theives”. That usually gets an interesting look but they get how to spell it. 😆
So fun!!
Love it….
And I love you, Tammy!