[ WP ] You ca n't die until your name is spoken for the last time .

Emily pointed to a picture of a little old lady, wrinkled in her rocking chair, knitting what appeared to be a sock. Or maybe it was a sweater. I could n't really tell. 
 
 `` Mommy, who is that lady?'' Her sweet little voice asked. I smiled, and flipped the picture over, the name barely registering in my mind. `` That's your great-great grandmother, sweetie,'' I said, and put the picture back in the box. I was n't here to reminisce, I was looking for a baby picture of my mother- the woman's granddaughter. Emily picked up the colored picture I'd put back down and studied it, flipping the page over. My little 5 year old scrunched up her beautiful blue eyes and read out loud, sounding out the words, `` Lou... Louis... Lou-Louise Rog-Rogers... Mommy, that's Nana's last name!'' `` Of course it is, darling.'' I dumped more pictures out, flipping through them in a hurry. I did n't realize we'd have so many pictures of this woman. I'd never met her. My mother barely remembers her grandmother. I wonder if I should throw them out. 
 
 Emily grabbed hold of a handful, her studious face lighting up. `` Mommy, Mommy! Louise does n't look wrinkly in this picture. Look, she has your eyes! They're blue, like yours! *Mommy, look! *'' She whined. Knowing that my daughter wears her heart on her sleeve, I really wanted to tell her that Sweetie, Mommy did n't care, but I obliged and gave it a quick glance. 
 
 Huh, I guess we do share the same cobalt-blue eyes. And face shape. And hair color. And cheekbones. That's weird, I'd never looked that closely at my great-grandmother's old pictures... `` Can I keep them?'' Emily asked, her whole face lighting up. `` Why, Em?'' `` Because I want to. And she's pretty, like you are. I wan na grow up to be just like you. And her. And Nana. And Aunt Marie. And-'' `` Yes, love, you can put them with your other pictures.'' Excited, she ran off with an armful of pictures, I presume to go show her father. 
 
 Rolling my eyes, I got back to my search. `` Louise...'' I muttered, setting aside another old photo for Em. 
 
 *A faint, little voice whispered in my ear, stuttering. Louise Rogers... Another, stronger voice, quietly whispered, Louise... I had n't felt a jolt like this since I died... Oh, I wish I could be left alone. But I'm terrified. I had n't quite entered the eternal abyss of darkness, as terrifyingly comforting as it may seem. I longed to join my ancestors to keep watch over the family and generations I've created but I'll never meet, just like the people in my family before me... They're long forgotten, and I hope that I will be too one day... * 
 
 *My name is n't murmured again until what feels like an eternity later, with the resounding finality that I've longed for. A clear, sweet vision of relief lets me see the last time my name is whispered. * 
 
 A young woman is in a hospital bed, clearly worn out, a man and woman by her side. In her arms is a wrinkled bundle of skin with a bright pink cap. `` What is her name?'' Another woman in green asks, holding a pen and paper. `` Louise,'' the exhausted young lady in the bed says, smiling, looking at her newborn child, not even an hour old. 
 
 *And then I realize, my name is not my name anymore... It belongs to my great-great-great granddaughter... I can finally rest. And watch over the new little girl that now carries the name that was mine. * 
 
 *Louise... *
