You know, my whole life people have screwed up my name. Even on the first date with my husband he called me "Claudia." I still married him: I'm very forgiving. I'm not sure what happens from the time my mouth utters "Claudine" until the time it hits someone's ears but the usual scenario goes something like this:
"Hi, I'm Claudine."
"Claudia?"
Sigh.... "No, Claudine."
"Claudette?"
Low moan.... "No, Claudine."
Two weeks later this person will usually call me "Christine."
If you ask my son what his name is he will proudly say, "Luc David Jalajas." If you ask him what his Daddy's name is he will say, "David Jalajas." If you ask him what
my
name is he rolls his eyes as if to say, "you idiot" and says "It's Mommy." I remember thinking, "sheesh... Dad gets an identity but I don't."
I recently met David and Luc at the Mall for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. I walked in the door and David says to Luc, "Hey look, there's Mommy." My 3 year old son turns around, yells and runs towards me with open arms as if he hasn't seen me in years, when it's been only hours, "MOMMY!!!" He nearly tackles me when he wraps his little arms around my legs and I think it was at that point that I thought, "God I love that name."
I know that this will be a very significant Thanksgiving for many of us. I just wanted to wish all of you a good Thanksgiving and to remind you to be thankful for the little things as well as the big ones. ;-)
Copyright 2001 Claudine M. Jalajas