Miranda Kerr's Promise to Her Late First Love Is Behind Son Flynn's Name

Miranda Kerr is sharing a story she has kept mostly to herself for years. On the“Not Skinny But Not Fat”podcast episode releasing Tuesday, November 3, the model and KORA Organics founder opened up about her high school boyfriend Christopher Middlebrook, who was killed in a car accident when they were teenagers. She recalled her uncle breaking the news and how her whole world stopped while everyone else’s kept going. Middlebrook’s car had been pulled off the road the week before because of a headlight issue, so he was driving without lights when he hit a plow.

At his burial, Kerr wrote him a letter with a promise: her firstborn son would carry his name. That promise is why her son with ex-husband Orlando Bloom is named Flynn Christopher. Now 15, Flynn has carried Middlebrook’s name his entire life. Kerr also stays in touch with Middlebrook’s parents, speaking with them at least once a month, and sends his mother sunflower emojis whenever she thinks of him.

The story is a reminder that first loves and first losses never really leave us, and that grief can turn into something lasting and full of love. A promise written at a funeral became a name that lives on every day, alongside a friendship with his family that never faded. What name in your family carries someone’s story? Tell us in the comments.