Genie... in a Bottle has challenged her readers to write about their names. I have a name. I can do this.
My real name is Sharyn. It's terribly outdated, although evidently it was quite popular at one time, since I know an awful lot of people (well, women actually, but you knew that) named Sharon. I've never minded my name, except that nobody has ever spelled it correctly without having to be reminded repeatedly, and I've never seen my name on a mug, key chain, bumper sticker or bike license plate. I'm resigned to that.
Like everyone else, I have a few fake names -- names that kind of sound like mine that people use when they can't quite remember who I am. I answer to names like Susan and Karen because it's just easier and I don't want to embarrass anyone who's forgotten my name, in the hope that they'll be kind when I inevitably forget theirs. Others set my teeth on edge, like Suzy (I still detest the Suzy I grew up with), and Sherry (Come on -- you get this close and still get it wrong? Besides, a dislikable aunt used to call me Sherry, and I think she did it just to make me mad. It worked). If someone calls me by one of my fake names, or if I'm afraid they can't remember my real name, I make a point of dropping my name into conversation, like so: "My mother always used to say to me, 'Sharyn, blah blah blah.' " It usually works, although there was this one mom at my son's school who evidently thought that Sherry was far superior to Sharyn, since she persisted in calling me Sherry despite my repeated nudges.
But the name I like best is a nickname given to me by my niece, Artypants, when she was less than two years old: Gee (hard G, like in "garden"). You know how it works with the names babies give us -- it's exciting that they know who we are and have come up with their own personalized labels. My mother is Mawmaw and my father is Boppo; both were named by Artypants and both cherish the honor.
My sister and her husband began calling me Gee. Their second and third kids call me Gee. Their kids' friends know me only as Gee, as well as their kids' friends' parents. Most of their neighbors, babysitters and teachers met me, and still know me, as Gee. There are times I forget myself and introduce myself as Gee, and then I have to explain the whole story. My luggage is personalized with the letters GEE.
I love having a title. I don't need to worry that, when the kids grow up, they'll feel silly calling me "Aunt Sharyn." "Gee" has grown up with them and they're just as comfortable with it as when they were little.
I asked my niece once why she called me Gee. Her answer? "Because your name is Sharyn."
Makes no sense, but I don't care.
Do you have a nickname as cool as mine?
