What's A Name?

Back eons ago when I was in elementary school I decided, for whatever reason at the time,  that I no longer wanted to be called "Laurie". Everybody that knew me or interacted with me called me Laurie because that's what my parents, family members and friends called me. When I wrote my name on my school papers I spelled it L-A-U-R-I-E.

I don't remember much about my self-elected name change other than the fact that I decided one day that I didn't like the name Laurie. I felt it sounded prim and proper. Even at my young age, I knew that I was not a prim and proper kind of girl.

I started signing my school papers with the name Laura instead,. I thought Laura sounded more exotic and free flowing than Laurie. I strongly urged all my classmates, friends, and family members to start calling me Laura. Whenever one would stray I would relentlessly correct them until they eventually were conditioned to call me Laura.

Some people...distant relatives and very old friends that weren't around during my self-elected name change days still will call me Laurie. Ironically now, when someone calls me by the name Laurie it sounds so sweet and clear.

Here's the kicker to this story. Somewhere along the way I came across my birth certificate and discovered that my birth name was in fact LAURA and not the LAURIE that my parents had always referred to me. Maybe mom decided that she didn't like my birth name she had chosen for me and had discretely changed it herself???  Maybe it was an error that she didn't take time to change? I don't know. It's been so long ago that I'm not quite sure that maybe my mother didn't just tell me that my birth name was Laura and I intentionally changed it to meet that criteria. Either way, I do remember not ever liking the name Laurie.

Incidentally,  there are so many variations of the name Laura - e.g. Lori, Laurie, Laura, Lora -  I have been called every version known so it doesn't even matter much any more and years ago gave up bothering to correct people.  Even my dear hubby calls me LORA when he actually uses my name. 98% of the time he calls me ANGEL, probably most likely to avoid the name pronunciation thing because I KNOW that I am not an angel especially to him..lol

There is rhyme and reason to this post. Recently Summer has requested that everyone call her SKYE which is her middle name. It's no trouble for Toby because he has always called her SKYE, but I'm having to constantly correct myself when I call her Summer.

So, from this day forward when refer to the name SKYE know that I am really speaking about SUMMER!!

How confused everyone must have been when I put the demands of my name change upon them all those years ago.

KARMA