When did someone call your baby's name a 'stripper name' in front of everyone?

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My husband Marcus and I chose the name Serenity for our daughter. It's meaningful to us because we met at a meditation retreat, and after three miscarriages, this pregnancy felt like finding peace.

When I was 7 months pregnant, we told his mother at family dinner.

"We've decided on a name - Serenity Rose."

Marcus's mom dropped her fork and stared at us like we'd announced we were naming the baby Satan.

"Serenity? Are you kidding me?"

"It's a beautiful name, Mom. It means peace—"

"It's a STRIPPER NAME! You might as well name her KHALIFA or SINS!"

The whole table went silent. Marcus's dad looked mortified.

"Mom, that's completely inappropriate—"

"Inappropriate? What's inappropriate is naming my granddaughter after a adult star! I will NOT have people thinking this family has no class!"

I started crying. After losing three babies, this woman was attacking the name we'd chosen for our miracle child.

"Mrs. Williams, the name means something special to us—"

"I don't care what it means to you! I care about what people will think! Do you want her to be a laughingstock?"

Then she said something that made Marcus stand up: "I'm calling her Sarah. That's a respectable name for a respectable family."

"You're not calling her anything, Mom. Her name is Serenity."

"Over my dead body! I refuse to introduce my granddaughter with a stripper name!"

She stormed out, but that was just the beginning.

The next day, she called everyone in the family to complain. She told Marcus's grandmother that we were "ruining the family reputation" and asked her to "talk sense into us."

When that didn't work, she got creative.

She made a Facebook post: "Praying for my son and daughter-in-law to choose a godly name for their baby instead of something that belongs in a gentleman's club. Please comment with suggestions for proper Christian names."

Forty-three people commented with name suggestions. She tagged us in every single comment.

But the worst part came at my baby shower.

I'm opening gifts in front of 30 friends and family members when I get to her present. Inside the box is a onesie that says "SARAH" in huge letters, and underneath it, a note that reads: "For when you come to your senses."

Everyone saw it. My friends were horrified. My mom was furious.

"Did she just publicly shame you at your own baby shower?"

Marcus grabbed the onesie and threw it in the trash. "Mom, what is wrong with you?"

"I'm trying to save this child from a lifetime of embarrassment!"

"You're the only one who's embarrassed! Everyone else thinks the name is beautiful!"

"Everyone else is just being polite! Behind your back, they're all laughing about the stripper baby!"

That's when my best friend Sarah stood up: "Actually, I think Serenity is gorgeous. And I'm named Sarah, so thanks for calling my name 'respectable' while insulting theirs."

Marcus's mom turned red. "I didn't mean—"

"Yes, you did. You've been horrible to them for months over a beautiful name."

After the shower, Marcus's mom cornered me in the bathroom.

"Listen, I'm going to give you one last chance to fix this. Change the name to something normal, or I will make sure this child knows her mother gave her a trashy name."

"Are you threatening to tell my daughter her name is trashy?"

"I'm promising to tell her the truth about what kind of name it is."

When Serenity was born, his mom showed up at the hospital uninvited with a birth certificate she'd printed from the internet with "Sarah Williams" filled in.

"I brought the correct paperwork since you're clearly not thinking straight."

Marcus called security and had her removed from the maternity ward.

She screamed down the hallway: "You'll regret this when that stripper name ruins her life!"

We haven't heard from her since.

Serenity is now 2 years old, and everyone who meets her says she has the most beautiful name.

The only person who ever thought it was inappropriate was the woman who's no longer in our lives.