Joe Carl Patrick Spontaneous White
- Joe
- Not Joseph, but Joe. I was named for my grandfather, Joe Plettman, who was also ‘plain’ Joe.
- Carl
- My great-grandfather was Odo Carl White; my grandfather was Jacob Carl White; my father is Jerry Carl White; I guess my son will be Jasper Carl or somesuch.
- Patrick
- When I was born, I was very sick (they think I might have swallowd some of the amniotic fluid, but they never really figured it out). I was rushed from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Beaumont to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. A nun rode in the ambulance with me, and since she thought I was going to die, she baptized me. She didn’t know my name, so she chose Patrick.
- Spontaneous
- I spent a week at TCH under the care of Dr. Desmond, the head of neonatalogy. I then, in her words, made a "spontaneous recovery."
- White
- A name that has been handed down from father to son for generations in my family.
