was named after my maternal grandpa, Petar. He was born on February 13, which is a neat date like my birthday 5/5/00. He was a very cool guy and people liked to hang out with him. He was very smart and loved to read a lot, and he taught my mom how to like and appreciate different books - everything from the Asterix and Obelix to the classics, and to have passion for movies and theater. Mom still remembers her first movie outing with grandpa, and the entire day surrounding it (from breakfast of carrots made by grandma to viewing the movie “Mary Poppins” to playing in the park afterwards). Grandpa Petar was funny and witty, and very, very charming.

He was the youngest kid in a his family, and was fond of climbing the trees and on the roofs. He loved to play soccer, and we don’t know how good he actually was in it, but there are some pictures where he looks like a movie star with the ball. He also loved banging his fork on the table in a rhythmic fashion, which led his mom to give him money for the movies. He went to the same high school as my mom, the First Belgrade High School, and they both used to spend considerable time in Dorcol, the old part of Belgrade.

Before he finished high school, he joined the partisans and fought the Nazis in World War II. He was shot in the knee and taken to Russia for an operation and recovery. He recuperated in time to come back and see the liberation of Belgrade.

Some years later, my grandpa was jailed as a political prisoner by the Communist party. He was on the small island of Goli Otok (Naked Island), with other political prisoners, where he had to participate in many “interesting” games made up by the Communists, such as “Take this hill of rocks and move them there (and repeat after),” “Let’s write letters to family and friends” and “Hot Rabbit (a.k.a. beating).” My mom was told that grandpa “spilled the vinegar” and that we have to be very careful not to spill it again, so that is why some of the jokes and stories shared in the house were never to be repeated in school.

Grandpa was working as a director of an advertisement agency. He was very creative and successful and could prosper even more if he were to join the party, but he opted not to. So did grandma, so the family was always vulnerable, but untainted.

Grandpa taught mom to play cards and chess and dominos and other games. Grandma did not really approve, since mom’s great-grandfather gambled everything he owned (and some things he did not own) several times in his lifetime, but grandpa said it was good for developing math skills. So they played cards often.

Grandpa Petar traveled a lot, and always brought home very cool gifts from his travels. He was the fastest Santa Claus when mom was 7. He liked well designed things and shared mom’s passion for shopping at stationary stores and candy stores. Grandpa and grandma loved life and they would invest a lot in the best of it. They ate good food, had good friends, read good books and liked good, sturdy furniture and carpets (which are all now in Cambridge, MA).

My second name, Marsden, came out of nowhere. Once upon a time John Murphy said we could use Thor as a name since his wife wouldn’t allow it for their boy. Mom and Dad joked about different names of the mythological gods such as Zeus and Hercules, and mom said Mars and dad said, “Hey that’s a cool name, but we would spell it Marrs.” So mom’s rounded tummy started being called Marrs (also Marrsie and Marrsie-pan). As the weeks went on, no name seemed to come along to replace Marrs, although many people suggested it was too weird. So finally in the hospital, under the pressure of the birth certificate office, the idea came to integrate Marrs into the middle name and use it in the Griggs family tradition as the main name used by the family. So in the tradition of James “Michael” Griggs, James “Malcolm” Griggs and George “Woodrow” Griggs, I became Petar Marsden Hrga Griggs. Marsden being a name that mom and dad liked and it has a certain old New England character to it. My third name, Hrga, is mom’s last name and her mom’s last name and a fairly rare last name. Also after nine months and then 24+ hours of labor I think mom deserves some credit.

So you can call me Marrs. I do get called Petar, pronounced the same as Peter, on occasion and a few times a day I might even get called Stinky Pete. I think I will like my names and the different things I can do with them.