A True Honor - Meet My Namesakes!

My best friend Alicia and her husband Rob recently had beautiful twin girls. They decide to name their Hebrew names after me. I am beyond touched. Below is what they read at the official baby naming ceremony last week.

In addition to my grandparents, we wanted to honor someone else in the naming of our daughters. But, this naming will break with tradition somewhat as it is a living tribute instead of a memorial.

Our friend Jennifer Goodman Linn, is my oldest and very much my dearest friend. She is not our biological sister but she is an Aunt to our children in every other sense of the word. She is very much a part of all of their lives so we felt it was only fitting that our daughters share in her name as well.


Jen, a childhood friend of mine, is so busy living, it is a wonder she finds time to breathe let alone live a life that is incredibly empowering and inspiring to others. One would never know that for more than four years she has been fiercely battling sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer.

While undergoing four surgeries and intensive chemotherapy for more than 30 months, and continuing her high-powered job as a marketing executive, she somehow managed to find the time to establish a charitable, indoor cycling event, Cycle4Survival, which funds cancer research and survivorship initiatives at Sloan-Kettering, where Jen receives treatment.

Since its conception in 2007, Cycle4Survival has raised just over $2 million. The Recession has clearly never met Jen! Most of you here have contributed to this cause that is very close to our hearts and we are eternally grateful for that support.

Jen, despite some fatigue from her treatment, is still an unbelievable force of energy and productivity. She has a full life that is not defined by her illness. I am not entirely sure how she does it but I have never met a more upbeat and positive person. That is just Jen. She was like that before her cancer diagnosis and I am virtually certain she will continue to be that way for the rest of her life.

She may have moments where she is frustrated, annoyed, mad or sad—you know, those moments when she is human like the rest of us—but that is always fleeting. She does not let her disease get in the way of her living. Her motto, like that of one of her role models Lance Armstrong, is “live strong.” She is, as she likes to call herself “a liver.” She takes every day as it comes and does the best she can with what she is given. If only I could say I did the same.

In addition to battling her serious form of cancer and founding what is now a multi-city fundraiser, Jen has an active family and social life. She is a devoted daughter, sister, aunt and wife. She is a supportive, selfless friend. Although not yet a mother herself, Jen welcomes her many friends’ children into her life and treats them as if they were her own. She plays with our boys, reads to them, cuddles them, roots for the Badgers with them and is even brave enough to undertake air travel with them! I cannot tell you how many times Jen has called me asking about what things the boys might like as presents. I can’t remember an occasion where she has shown up at our house empty-handed. She loves to spoil our kids and like everything else in her life, she cannot and will not be deterred from her thoughtfulness!

Jen embodies the word dynamo. She is a go-getter. If she wants it to happen, more often than not it does. She is not content to sit back and just wait and hope for her body to heal. If she has to be ill, then not only is she going to do everything in her power to restore herself to health, but she is going to try to make sure that everyone around her suffering similarly will be cured as well. When Jen sets her mind to a goal, there is no stopping her.

Girls, your namesake is a force to be reckoned with. If I were Jen’s sarcoma, I would be scared. This cancer can’t possibly be a match for this small yet powerful, empowering and inspiring woman.

Malena and Delilah, you won’t have the opportunity to know your maternal great-grandparents and the many ways in which you could have looked up to them and learned from them. But, you will have your Aunt Jen and we hope that you will be inspired by her determination, courage, her unrelenting optimism, her devotion to family and friends, and to you. 



In a living tribute to Jen, your Hebrew middle names respectively will be Yovela, which means “joyful heart” and Yadira, which signifies “friend.” In your English and Hebrew names you carry with you three beautiful, beloved and inspirational people. We hope to instill in you those qualities of theirs that we so admire.