1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 182

   It's time to go back to 1977. For today's look, I celebrate the 40th birthday of Liv Tyler. 

    Now you might think it's because I'm a fan or I think she's hot. But actually, there's a more sentimental reason I wanted to talk about this celebrity birthday. 

     Liv Tyler over the course of several films played the role of the elf Arwen in the Lord of the Rings movies. Her appearances happened around 2001-2005. 

     At this very same time, my wife and I suffered through several miscarriages. But we didn't name our children at first. It wasn't until 2004 when we both learned that naming your lost children helps with the healing process. Though my wife and I never got to see our babies, by God, we're parents and something about naming them helps make the grieving process real.
  

So you combine parents of rocker Steven Tyler and
model Bebe Buell and you get Liv Tyler.

     If I remember correctly, by this time, we had miscarriage #4- our son Theodred. We decided on his name because there's a scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when Theoden, Theodred's father looks upon his grave says 'no parent should ever have to bury their own children.' Well, that phrase stuck with Jan and I and from almost that moment forward, child #4, that we were told was male, become Theodred or Theo for short.

     Now we just needed 3 more names. We knew that our third child was a girl but we weren't 100% sure about our 'twins.' Now, I being a geek wanted to name them Luke and Leia. Well, being a huge Carrie Fisher fan, and once having a crush on her, my wife vetoed it. But man did I want Star Wars names for my kids. And boy did I have great one in mind. Yet, I had to sell my wife on it.

     So after something brainstorming, I decided to be diplomatic: I named our daughter Arwen Michelle after both the LOTR character and my wife's middle name. Our first son I named Luke Allen after the celebrated Jedi Knight and Jan's grandfather. Now the doozy- son #2 would henceforth be known as Chewbacaa Mwor-wrowll-rowwll-rowll! And She Agreed!!! But I had to allow that we call him Chewie for short. (Note: Chewie's middle name is Wookiee for He Who Hunts Bounties.)

     So, that's the story of why Liv Tyler deserved to be highlighted for today's A Madman Turns 40 showcase. Just so you know, we have a fifth child, another (confirmed daughter, whom Jan named Jazzmin (and we call Jazzy) after my love of Jazz music. 

      Well, that's my look at 1977 for today. I'll be back again soon to examine another aspect of my favorite year. Until then... Happy Birthday, Liv!