A Boy Named Sue.

There is a great song by Shel Silverstein called, "A Boy Named Sue."  If you aren't familiar with his rendition, then you might know the tune since it was sung by the late, great Johnny Cash when he was visiting San Quentin prison in 1969.

It's the story about a boy named Sue.  Sue's father abandons him at the age of 3 and only contribution to his son's life was naming him Sue.  As Sue's life unfolds, he is persecuted and harassed but able to hold his own in any situation.  Sue is tough and strong, mainly because of having to defend his name.

When Sue grows up, he eventually hunts down his father and finds him in an old tavern in Tennessee.  Sue introduces himself to his father and then the two begin to brawl.  After a good fight, Sue's father explains to him that he knew he wouldn't be there for his son, so he gave him the name Sue to keep him tough.  Sue forgives his father, but in the end says he still hates the name Sue.

I only tell this story to add a little insight and humor as to how we named our new little pup.  Of course, it has nothing to do with the name Sue, and we have no intention of him having to brawl in defense of his name.  More importantly, I hope that Martin and I never end up in a bar in Tennessee.  Rather, I tell you the story of Sue, so that you'll have a little more compassion with the story behind our little pup's name.

Meet Mallory Winslow Frey. 

Mallory, of course, is adorable with a splash of super cute.  He is always up for a hot dog and cuddles with you whether you want to or not. Mallory's favorite delicacy is peanut butter and Lily. Mallory is a trailblazer and an adventurer of the best kind.  There really is no one that is less fearless than this little guy.  He may be a puppy among dogs, but don't tell him that.  He'll wrangle, run and bark with the best of his canine colleagues.

Now,  I know your next question is, "Why would we let a BOY have a girl's name?"  We didn't.  I mean, we would be out of our minds to name him after a girl if it wasn't for a good reason.  Right?

First, there is the issue of my family.  Yeah, I've already gotten all the ridicule I need from my family.  I was quickly reminded by my sister that she will always think of Mallory from Family Ties every time she calls out his name.  Not helpful.  Then there was my niece that asked me flat out, "Hey, why does your dog have a girl's name?"  Again, not helpful.  Then there is my step-daughter, Meredith, who just ignores our choice in his name altogether and calls him, "Gus Gus," to which he responds to wholeheartedly and without hesitation.  Poor thing, he has been set up so early in life to suffer from a doggie complex.  Again, not our intention.

Honestly, our intent wasn't to give him a name that would cause him to have to "put up his paws" at any given dog park.  What we really wanted was for him to have a story behind his name.  What we wanted was for him to be named after someone great, with a great legacy to match and THAT is how we came up with the name, Mallory.

Truth be told, Martin and I agonized over what we should name our newest furry addition to our family.  AGONIZED!  We tried out different names daily, but nothing suit him.  We tried Teddy, Sawyer, Inglebert (not really), Harry, Eddy and Bondi.  You know?  All the cute names.  But nothing fit this little adventurous guy.

So, here's where the explaining starts... When Mallory was a wee pup, we noticed his desire to explore.  He explored everything with great gusto.  Mallory walked around the house exploring corners while sniffing up, down and all around.  When we took him outside, he explored the front yard and then the backyard.  It was only obvious that he was an adventurer since birth and needed to be aptly named after one.

So, we started with one of Martin's favorite explorer's, Earnest Shackleton.  "Shackleton?"  I mean, this was a man that got his boat, Endurance, stuck in the arctic. Because of Shackleton's leadership, his crew remained loyal to him in spite of their circumstances. Plus, he kept them all alive for almost 3 years and eventually got them all rescued.  The best part, he was able to get the majority of the same crew to sign back up with him 3 years later for the SAME expedition!

We love the story of Shackleton, but the name was such a big, complicated name for such a little puppy.  So, in the end, Shackleton was not the name for our little guy.

The next great explorer that came to mind was Sir Edmond Hillary.  "Hey," we said to one another, "How about we name him Hillary?"  Now, this guy was someone to talk about!  Hillary was the first person ever to climb Mt. Everest with his sherpa, Tinzing Norgay.  If we are talking about an icon, this is the man!  The problem was that Hillary is kind of a girly name and we could NOT name our little, macho pup after a girl!

So we moved on...  That's when I suggested Mallory.  After George Mallory.  The first man ever to attempt to climb Mt. Everest.  It is speculated that Mallory either touched the summit or came within 800 feet of it only to die in his descent.

George Mallory's fate and his body weren't discovered for almost 75 years until Conrad Anker found it in it's resting place right down from the summit of Everest in 1999.  In fact, ladies, if you want to watch a movie with a wonderful love story for you and an adventure for your husband, rent The Wildest Dream.  It's the story of George Mallory's expedition to Mt. Everest in 1924.  The movie also includes the love story between he and his wife, Ruth.  The story then continues on up to modern day when Mallory's body is eventually discovered by one of the greatest current day climbers, Conrad Anker.  We have a few friends that were in the movie or were guides for Conrad Anker during the making of it, so we like to watch it and look for our mates.  (In fact, I think it's currently available on Netflix.)

Okay, where was I going with this before I got "slightly" off track?  Oh, Mallory... Our dog.  Anyway, since Hillary was too girly, I suggested the name Mallory to Martin (not even thinking about the tie to Alex P. Keaton) and Martin perked up and agreed.  We called him Mallory for about a week and it just stuck. 

I know, I know... we named our cute little male puppy a name that is commonly associated with a female name. Please know that our intentions were pure.  We never wanted to give him this name so that he could hold his own in any junkyard fight.  We really named him after a famous explorer, not after someone's little sister.  George Mallory was an explorer who set no limits.  He was someone who blazed new trails.  Something we now expect from our little pup, Mallory, to do as well (as long as he stays in the yard).

So this is the story of Mallory and how his name came to be.  We had no other choice than to give him the name that he was always meant to have.  It was either that, or just name him Sue.  Which would have been uncomfortable since that's my mom's name... and THAT would have been just downright funny.