Reverb10: New Name

Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why? (Author: Becca Wilcott)

It's so funny to see this Reverb prompt come up, considering this week I have finally begun the process to change to my married name.  It's been Facebook Officially since September 5th, of course, but for some reason the US Government doesn't accept that as appropriate proof of identity.

Instead of using a new name, let me tell you a story of when I was a little Meaglette, one of my mother's favorite stories.  I was about seven, possibly a bit younger, and feeling angsty.  I was one of three Me/a/g/h/ans in my elementary class and not satisfied being known as "with an A."  Mom picked me up from Grandma's house one day after school, and she noticed that I was brooding, or so much as a second-grader can.  When she inquired as to the source of my dissatisfaction, and I asked a simple question.

"Mommy, why didn't you name me Theodora?"

See?  A very simple question.  Bless her heart, my mom suppressed what I am confident was a snort of laughter and asked why I was asking such a thing.  Apparently, I was convinced that I was not meant to be a Meagan.  I should have been a Teddy, and to be a Teddy, you must first be a Theodora.  When we got home, I flounced up the stairs to my pink-all-over bedroom and continued to brood over the unfair nature of the universe and why I had been named incorrectly.

Dear Mom and Dad, thanks for not listening to your pre-teen drama queen ... Because Teddy Likes It dot com would have been a very different sort of website.

(reverb10.com)