The English origin of the name SKYLAR is "eternal life, strength, love, beauty" and the Scandinavians define SKYLAR as "learned one." We believe this name fits her well because of the impact she will have on those of us here today and on the many whom are yet to come.
Skylar's first initial is taken in honor of Pam's maternal Great Aunt Gertrude DeSevo. Gertrude's Hebrew name was Shena Gittel, which will also be Skylar's Hebrew name. For those of you who did not have the honor of knowing Aunt Gertrude, she was the matriarch of the Freedman side of the family until her death in 1996. She was, for many years, a surrogate grandmother to Pam. She was one of the strongest personalities in the family, which says a lot if you've had the pleasure of knowing any Freedmans! Gertrude was our storyteller and her legacy lives on through the many stories still told of our family's history, especially the ones that were painstakingly memorized by Pam's mother, Eileen (Gertrude refused to allow us to write down or otherwise record the family history. She believed it could only be passed on through word of mouth.) She was a passionate and brilliant light in our lives and is still forever on the minds of those of us who loved her dearly.
Skylar's middle name means "kind one & peace" and comes from her Great Grandmother, Olive Cummings. Gram, as we call her, is Paul's maternal Grandmother. She is from South Williamsport, PA where she met and married her husband Walter Cummings. Walter was a quiet strong man who taught many of us that a little attention every day will have a much greater impact on us than any one single large event could ever have. Like starting his tomatoes from a seed in his basement and growing it until he could proudly walk them through our door. He did not know it, but he was not bringing us tomatoes as he walked though our back door, as he did almost every Sunday, he was bringing us his love, caring and support. Olive survived him in 1996 and now lives with Skylar's Grandparents, Rosemary & Paul Sr., in Williamsport. Olive is as excited as we all are to have a new person added to the family and is looking forward to holding and loving her. If she can be half the Great Grandmother as she was a Grandmother, Skylar will still have one of the best in the world.
Pam & Paul