You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy.™
Armante Cordan Williams
I always wondered what happened to the baby with my name.
I didn’t father the kid.
but…
Well here he is. A chip off the old block. Someone’s block. Just not my block.
This is his mug shot. Apparently he was arrested this past October in Rocky Mount, North Carolina charged for failure to appear and speeding.
Why do I care? And more curiously, why does this dude have my last name for his middle name?
It all starts 20 years ago. I am a reporter working at the bureau in Greenville, North Carolina.
Ring ring ring.
The woman on the other end of the phone tells me that she just gave birth at Pitt Memorial Hospital.
Congratulations I say.
So….
I named my son after you, she says.
What?
Armante Cordan Williams she says.
Wow.
Why.
You are a great reporter, she says.
Well that’s awesome I tell her. I am a bit overwhelmed. You never know who you touch and how you might affect them.
I say good bye and hang up.
I haven’t thought about that kid for a very very long time.
Every now and then I would tell the story in a bar about the call from the momma who named her son after me.
Some people would laugh. Many others would think it’s cool.
I always wondered what happened to Armante Cordan Wiliams.
Was he a brick layer, a neuro surgeon, a pizza delivery man?
For some reason he popped up in a search engine.
And this is what I found.
He is only 20 years old. He has his whole life ahead of him. But I also know he has a criminal record and a mug shot now and my name is associated with it.
Strange but true.
Clean up your act Armante. Many Cordans out there are counting on you.
And that is crazy.™