When my daughter was born 17 years ago and my husband and I called her Eleanor, people often asked if she had been named after a relative.

The question confirmed my notion that "Eleanor" was not a popular name and suggested that to name a child Eleanor, there must be a grandmother or great-aunt in the family's lineage. That was not the case.

My daughter is called Eleanor, in part, because I am a great admirer of Eleanor Roosevelt. I recently saw a television documentary on the former first lady, and it reaffirmed my admiration of her, especially the strength of character she displayed throughout her difficult life.

Eleanor Roosevelt had a sad and lonely childhood. At age 7, her mother died and her father was confined to a mental institution. When her father passed away two years later, Eleanor became the charge of relatives and spent her youth at boarding schools.

When she married Franklin at age 21, Eleanor seemed determined to create the idyllic family life that she had missed growing up. She devoted herself to raising her children and being the dutiful wife of a rising political star, despite her natural shyness and intense dislike of the glittery Washington, D.C., social scene.

In 1918, upon Franklin's return trip from Europe, Eleanor discovered in her husband's suitcase a pack of love letters from Lucy Mercer, her own personal secretary. The idyllic home life she had imagined no longer seemed within her reach.

This discovery, followed several years later by Franklin's crippling bout with polio, would have broken a weaker spirit. Instead, she bore this double cross admirably, refusing to let bitterness consume her, turning instead to helping others.

From serving in soup kitchens to visiting soldiers during World War II to defying segregation laws by sitting next to blacks at a Southern Conference for Human Welfare, Eleanor stepped out into the world and made it a better place.

Her tragedies became the impetus for her to transcend her safe, aristocratic life and take positive actions that would improve lives for generations to come.

Adversity, whether in the form of disillusionment or loss, breaks the comfortable rhythm of our lives, whether we are rich and famous or poor and struggling. When it happens, only one thing feels certain — that life will never be the same again.

A trouble-free life does little to develop our strengths. How we handle life's challenges is the true measure of our courage. Confronting adversity with grace and determination can lead to unimagined successes, as Eleanor Roosevelt has shown us.

Today's my daughter's challenges lie in the classes she takes, the social circle in which she moves and the future she is planning. My wish for her, and for all the young women, is that as they live their lives, they do so with the strength and grace of Eleanor Roosevelt, who turned her broken dreams into a better world for all of us.

Linda K. Schmitmeyer is a freelance writer living in Middlesex Township. Her e-mail address is lks260@zoominternet.net.