What's in a name?

When I was a kid, I wasn't super crazy about my name - Judith Michelle. They called me Michelle for a while, but when I got to kindergarten there was a girl named Michelle that I didn't like. So, when I found out my first name was actually Judith (Judy), I made up my mind that I wanted to change it. I wasn't super crazy about that name either, but at least it was after my dad's mother - or so I was told. There were still a lot of people who called me Michelle, but over time eventually everyone switched.

Yesterday I went downtown to pick up a death certificate for my father (he died 13 years ago). You can imagine the irony when I saw his mother's name listed on the certificate as Vivienne Jean. Where was the Judy?? I could only laugh. I called my mom right away to let her know. She laughed, too. She said she wasn't crazy about the name Judy, but my dad talked her into it because he told her it was his mother's name. Seems he pulled one over on both of us! What's even more ironic is that my maiden name "Shane" wasn't a real name either. My dad changed his last name when he went into showbusiness (long before I was born). Consequently, I ended up with that last name when I was born. But, no one else in his family has that name except for me. Now that's a story I can't wait to tell the kids one day!