not first or last

Staircase to the middle of nine, originally uploaded by ToNo's world.

Well what do you know! My cousin has a blog. Milena. The younger one of the two that lost her Dad last month. It's beautifully written with poignancy and quirkiness, like I remember her to be. Beautiful, poignant, quirky.

She writes a post about her name. And a nickname I gave her. Read it.

It got me thinking about my name. My MIDDLE name actually. A name that I was afraid to share when I was a kid. Cuz it's weird. It starts with an 'L' so me and my Carebears decided it would be Lynn. ' Anne Lynn.' The name of a roller queen. Like a muse from Xanadu. (I wasn't Annie until college when someone started calling me Annie and it stuck. And now when I hear ANNE I think I'm in trouble with my older brother for touching his Atari).

Anyway, I wanted it to be Lynn sooooooooo bad!!! I begged and begged my mom who finally drown me out with her Kenny Loggins and cigarette smoke. But I wanted to be LYNN! Like my B.F.F. at the time Wendy Lynn Holden.

pause....

Ah! Sweet Wendy Lynn Holden. A girl I wanted to be like. Nice, funny, great at ballet and soccer. A girl that lived down the street in a rich house with a normal mom. She was my first B.F.F. Until in 6th grade her and Alison Gabrys made fun of me for wearing 'Treetorn high tops.' Granted, horrible shoe choice but you bitches thought I didn't know the fake story you wrote in English class was about me, huh? You girls are sneaky!!! Wendy was also the one who secretly originated the name 'Froggie' for me. Even had people sign my year book (which I still have)...'Hey Froggie. K.I.T. over summer! Ribbit Ribbit!' I was like...'Oh cool! I have a nickname' not having a clue what that meant...until later I found out she called me that 'cuz she said I had big eyes like a frog. HA! Big eyes! And to think I shed tears over that bitch. All girls can be bitchy, but THAT ONE was mean spirited to the core. I remember running into her as an adult back in Michigan. I could still see the judging vulture behind her big or small eyes. (Sorry for the side journal post but it reminds me what we hold on to. When I substitute teach off and on, my first mission is always to call out any making fun of kids I see. I really hate it. So thanks Wendy for helping me be sensitive).

un-pause...

So back to my middle name. It's a family name from my great grandmother on my Mother's side. A tiny little woman born in 1901 who lived till she was 96. A sweet woman who gave me 'bubble gum money' and a smile that made you proud to be whoever you were. Big eyes and all.

Somewhere on the internet 'Annie' means full of grace, easy to love, harmony. (sure. okay.) Biblically Ann was the name for Mary's mother so I got a few props with the big spirit. Anna is also a Hebrew name. And Annabell is latin. And feels southern.

So on account of my cousin's post, I'm inspired to tell ya'll my middle name. Something I never tell anyone!!!

I'm Annie Lamore. Yeah. Kinda like the french word for love. So if we take what the internet says about 'Annie' and put it with 'Lamore' maybe I'm really full of grace AND love.

Or maybe just full of shit. Either way, it wasn't that bad to say.

What's your middle name?

Comments

[ephany]

I see your Lamore and raise you a Karvel. Seriously. I have no idea what it means, but it rolled off the tongue well when my mom was mad. ("Kronda Karvel!!..." )

What I wouldn't give to have her mad at me right now...

[geekgrl64]

Well, my middle name is just plain old Elizabeth. However, I did manage to saddle my son with a family name as his middle - Hetherington. It is his grandfather's middle name and his great grandfather's middle name, so he has some big shoes to live up to.

Annie - I love your blog. Thanks for keeping it up and posting!

[Colleen Wainwright]

"Ann."

Yes, really :-)

[Larry]

Lamore... Yes, a very nice name indeed. Wasn't there a Western novelist by that name? Oh, that was Louis L'Amore. Nah, Lamore is better. Lacking the apostrophe makes it appear less stuck-up. :D

Not at all like Daniels. That sounds like a failed auto manufacturer, don't it? "Daniels. New for aught eight..."

As I understand it, t'is my paternal grandfather's mother's maiden name. I knew her as DeeDee, and loved going over to her place when visiting the grandparents. She introduced me to a wonderful candy that I'm still taunted by many for eating now & then; candy corn. Reviled by others, maybe, but DeeDee said they're good, dammit. Unless she was cursing & actually said, "Those are ... goddammit". Eh, I still like 'em.

[Batmensch]

My middle name is Thomas, because my father and my grandfather were both Thomas, but it would have been confusing to have three with the same first name.

[orcaarrow]

Stuart. I am the first grandchild born on both sides of the Atlantic. I was named after My Dad's father Robert and my Mum's father Stuart and what guy could argue with Dad's name first. I'm Robert Stuart.

[albie]

Maureen. I was named after my mother's favorite niece. They were actually the same age and sort of grew up together. A few years ago I got to meet her...and I absolutely hated her. Ah, well.

[Denise]

LeAnn. Seriously spelled that way.(It almost screams faux french.) It was my Mom's idea because there was a girl in one of her classes as a child who had that name and she thought it was pretty. To my knowledge, it doesn't have a very profound meaning. Now my first name is the feminine form of "Dennis" which I've read means "Servant of Dionysus".

SWEET.

Bring on the wine and orgies, people.

[MelonCamp]

I never knew what a big deal the middle name was - until I started thinking of baby names for kids I might have one day. For me, the middle name is the one I almost wished could come first but is too weird to do so, so I'll just tuck it in the middle for safe-keeping...

[The Domestic Goddess]

My name means beautiful pearl. Marjorie Linda. I was named after a nun friend of my mothers (I've never met a woman under sixty with my name) and the middle name? After the baby born a year before me stillborn. My mother wanted to name me the same name. For obvious reasons they talked her out of it, but she kept the middle name.

[KatieKatie]

Marie
That's my middle name.
And I'm not an Osmond.
How unlucky or lucky is that?

ha ha ha!

[MJBUtah]

Joy. My parents had a baby that didn't make it 2years before I was born (he was born with a heart defect and only lived a couple of weeks) so my mom said I was a Joy to finally have.

[Marly]

Emilie

From Latin: trying to equal or excel, emulating, rival.
From Greek: friendly, tender.

Seems to me that they contradict each other.

[paul_revere]

David. Didn't mean shit - plucked out of thin air by my mother.

(Sings) When the moon hits your eye like a big-a-pizza pie, that's Lamore! =)

Mine is RENE.

Stop. Laughing. Now! :)

It is French-Canadian and from my Gfather on my Mom's side. He immigrated from Canada with his folks. You know, when the US was agreeable to immigration...

It is pronounced RAINY as in it is a rainy day outside. Gfather is now 91 and still a stud-muffin. He started supporting his family at 16 and worked until he was 75. He used to haul coal for home furnaces, then home heating oil. His hands were always stained dark, very rough and calloused. They smelled of home heating oil but his grip was unforgivingly powerful. Rhode Island can be pretty cold during the winter season.

Ironically, for all of us uncultured types, my sister's name is Renee. French too, but sounds like well, uh, Renee. :) Her name has an accent mark, but I am not sure which E it goes on.

My family moved a great deal while I was growing up. I learned quickly to let the 'guys' know my middle name early on, then really nail the first one who made fun of it. Yes, I got in trouble, but from that point forward the 'guys' would no longer tease me. The best defense is a smart offense, I always say!

My 2 cents...

[fairnhite451]

Roland.

It's a family name. Growing up, I hated it ... and would go to great lengths to guard it as a secret from all.

Then I researched and stumbled across the whole story of the French (well, Norman I suppose) knight. Now it's all cool.

[Keith "Papa" Schizzle]

Matthew

My mother wanted Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the four Gospels) in her boys' names. She was a Catholic convert and took (parts) of her faith seriously.

My older bro Chris knocked out John (middle) and Mark (confirmation) which left me Luke but I didn't want my confirmation (or any) name to be a Star Wars character. So I took Michael for my confirmation name and pissed my mother off. It wasn't the first time.