Thanks to Sunday Scribblings I have realized that in four years of pounding out posts, "Entries", essays, confessions, reports, travel experiences, memories shaded by time, and the occassional rant...there just isn't much I have not written about before.
From October 9, 2003.....
My name is Mary Theresa. My Mom named me in advance because it was her dream for me to become a Nun. Mary was never really truly mine. At the Catholic High School I attended there was Mary Anne, Mary Ellen, Mary Alice, Mary Beth, Mary Jane, Mary, Mary, Mary and Mary. You could yell "MARY" in the hallway and half the girls would turn to answer.
Why couldn't I have had my own personalized name? Exclusive to me, giving me a different sense and significance of self. And to others!
In my day dreams, I named myself dramatic, romantic monikers.
I named my daughter, Bridget...Theresa. Bridget conjures up images of sexy French girls even though its actually the female patron saint of Ireland. Not to mention the name of my Great Grandmother.
I was stumped when Bridget was born, so certain she was going to be a male. 23 years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, you were not given the opportunity of knowing in advance the sex of your child. It was "PUSH, PUSH, PUSH.....its a GIRL!" I was so surprised. The entire last six months of carrying her, she had squirmed, kicked, and wiggled around so much I knew she was a boy.
My Mom named Bridget. I was clueless and half heartedly came up with Nicole. My mother balked and said "That's not an Irish name." And so, she became Bridget after a woman born in the 1800's.
No mistake was made, for she is most certainly a Bridget. Even the name rolls off the tongue and tickles the lips. It can be drawn out as in, "Brrrrrriiiidggggettttt..." or short and harsh "Bidgt". I like the way there are numerous ways to spell Bridget, therefore giving her the latitude to change her mood and/or her sense of self with the spelling.
I was one of six children. My moniker has always been "The oldest", and when my sisters were born, "The oldest girl". Now as my parents age, I still am the oldest and introduced as, "My oldest daughter". I never had a nick name like some other Mary's I knew. No Mollie or Missy or Sissy for me...just plain, Nun-like Mary.
I love the Internet for the wonderful pleasure of naming myself and giving myself great nicknames like HighwayStar, Drama Queen and AlphaWoman.
Yet, a rose by any other name.......
13 comments:
No one every called you Mare?
You know what I like about the internet/blogging - when Blogger asks me to "choose an identity." I always choose Robbie but the idea of having a choice seems so liberating and exciting. I can choose to be whomever I want but funny I always choose to be me. :-D
So.....was great Grandma Bridgett a sexy french woman? :)
Nice post!
All my life I hated being Nelle. It was an unusual name and no one could pronounce it without the e as it is meant to be. I hate being called Nellie which is not my name. I prayed for a simple name like Debbie. Personalized items were never attainable unless they were customized. As I have grown older I have enjoyed having a bit of a different name. I did hear Ronald Reagan's mother's name was Nelle but he pronounced it NellIE. I was surprised that when I googled it with my last name there were several. I think if I had my choice of Irish names I would have chosen Deirdre. I do like Bridget and I knew a woman from Ireland with that name.
Another lovely write from you. I really enjoyed this.
We used to live on the base with a family of 8 kids. All the girls were named Mary. It was confusing. I think they felt like a litter too.
Bridget is a sexy name, you're so right about that! I'm glad you went through the archives and pulled this post out...it was a good read.
My name is Kyle, (not pronounced Kylee). I'm a girl. As you can imagine I got hell for it as a child. But now I'm thankful to have a unique name!
Good post. That's funny about all the Mary's!
What a great read to break myself into Sunday Scribblings!
:)
In India, Pooja is a very common name. In a class of 50, we have around 10 Poojas!
When I was young, I was so jealous of girls with names like Mary, Anne and Sara. I guess we all have to grow into our names.
I'm with you about the Mary-s! I was named Mary Ann and my dad thought he'd invented that name--seriously! But what I really enjoyed about your post was how you've re-invented your name as many times as you like.
Wonderful post.
Names are cyclical, for sure. I thought my girls had original names but no...there must be bazillions of girls in their age bracket with the same name. Nice post!
I'm really enjoying your blog--especially this entry. Keep it up. . .www.glory-ho.com
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