Kelly Kay Explains Why She Named Son Spider, Says Using Late Boyfriend's Name Is 'Too Hard' (Exclusive)
Kelly Kay, the girlfriend of late Oregon football star Spencer Webb, explains why she decided to honor her boyfriend and name their son Spider — Webb's nickname in college — and not Spencer
Kelly Kay is opening up about her baby boy's unique name.
Speaking to PEOPLE about her first few weeks with son Spider, Kay shares why she decided to honor her late college football player boyfriend Spencer Webb by naming their son Spider — Webb's college nickname — and not the athlete's actual moniker.
Just one week before Kay learned of her pregnancy news, Webb died at age 22 in a rock-sliding accident. Kay was at the scene of the accident, telling PEOPLE her boyfriend "passed away in my arms."
Throughout her pregnancy, Kay says she was already referring to her little one as "baby Spider."
"I talked to his best friends about it and I didn't want to name him Spencer Jr. because I believe that Spencer is Spencer and that is his name and I don't want to take that away from him," she explains. "I think it would also be too hard on me to call him Spencer. So I was like, let's call him Spider. That's a badass name. That was his dad's nickname. It's still honoring him."
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"I think in today's day and age of naming your kid, it's more acceptable to name them whatever you want. I just thought it fit perfectly. And so I talked to his friends about it and we agreed that that's what we were going to do and here we are," she adds.
Besides honoring Webb with baby Spider's name, Kay plans to continue to keep Webb's memory alive in "every way possible."
"We have pictures all over the house. We have so much memorabilia. And as he grows up, he will always grow up knowing who his dad is."
"I hope to send him to Oregon, and I know he is going to be D1. He's already nonstop," Kay says with a laugh. "We're both very athletic people. [I hope to] send him to football and just follow in Spencer's footsteps as much as I can."
"Even though his son and I are starting this new life with some trials and tribulations, we're going to make sure to live through Spencer's strength and guidance to make him proud."
Since welcoming her baby boy, Kay says she's enjoying "every single second" of motherhood.
"The joy of the new baby has brought me out of the depression that I was in, but I think that the grief of losing Spencer is a chip on my shoulder that will never go away," she shares.
"[Spider] is my best friend and he is my new favorite person on this planet, and I enjoy every second of it. From the smiling and him making eye contact with me, we sleep together and cuddle, to even the poopy diapers and the crying," she says. "I wouldn't change it for the world."
"I'm just so happy that I have a best friend again. All I ever wanted in life was a best friend, a lover and a partner. And Spencer filled those shoes, and now that he's gone, I feel like I have Spider and he's never going to leave me," she continues. "He's mine. He's here forever. This is it. It's not just Kelly Kay anymore. It's Kelly and Spider forever."
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