How did you get your name?

My dearest Hayatt, Today I was chatting with a stranger about her name: Ronnie. I asked her if it is short for something, she said: - "No, but lots of people think that it is short for Veronika". - "If my name was Veronika, I wouldn't want to shorten it. It is a cool, classy name" - Laughs - "I don't like the name Veronika, because of how many times people think that my name is Veronika! I like my name." - "It is a cool name! Is there a story behind it?" - "Actually my mom heard the name in a song that came on the radio when she was close to giving birth and my dad, who wasn't with her, heard it at the same time in the car as he was driving home. When he reached home, he rushed to tell me mom about the song as she rushed to tell him too!" - "Thats is a very cool origin story!" This conversation made wonder if you know the story about how your mother and I chose your name and spelling? You use it everyday and type it in emails and social media handles, etc. I am sorry I don't remember if I told you the story. It has been a long time since we spoke to each other. I am holding on to the key moments as much as I can but some fade and get distorted with time & aging (your old man is almost an actual old man!) I know you like your name a lot. Do you still like your name? Since I don't know if your mother told you and don't remember if I did, I decided to tell you the story of how you were named Hayatt! In the 1990s - when both your mom and I were teenagers, a movie came out starring Ahmed Zaki and Raghda, Directed by Khairy Bishara, named "Ka-Bo-Ria" which is Crab in Arabic as you might remember. Do you still remember Arabic? I gues you probably speak to your mom in Arabic at home, or maybe she learned Dutch. She has always been smart. I remember she started learning german when we were still together and her progress was promising. Anyway, in the movie, Raghda played the protagonist love interest, Hayatt. She was so pretty, rebellious and a very rich character. Full of controversies and life. I loved the name since then. When your mom was pregnant with you, we both talked about the potential names a lot. To be honest I don't really remember if there were any other contenders! The second I brought it up, your mom loved it so much because she - too - was fascinated by the character in the movie, hence it was decided! one other element that helped the choice, the plan was always to NOT live in Egypt forever, so I wanted your nae to be recognizable anywhere we lived. The world famous Grand Hyatt Hotel was already well known quality brand so I thought, that is a good bonus. We just wanted the spelling to be different from the hotel. We thought it would be more unique that way. I hope you like that and don't think it is an inconvenience to you! There is another reason why I am writing about this today. I am preparing to launch a music album of mine in a month. On June 6, 2026. In the album - which contains the work that I created when we still lived together, there is a track that I wrote as a sound journey. It was always referred to as "Samai Rehla" which is the name of the classic musical form it was composed in. Here is a video of the live performance:

https://youtu.be/gwlKMW9yg3M?si=UrQYpEuu3prPc5dP

In your honour and with all the love in my heart for you, I have decided to name this piece; Hayatt.

I don't know if you will ever know that, but if you happen to listen to it when it comes out, I hope you know that you were always my muse and inspiration for becoming better at everything I do. The launch date, is my late grandfather's birthday - do you remember him? There is a photo of both of you when you were 3 years and he was 103 years old on his birthday. You were exactly 100 years apart! If you look into the photobook I gave you for your 8th birthday, you will see it. I hope you still have it!

I am proud of you and I love you very much.

Love,

Dad