Freewrite Four

My name, my full name, is Aliesha Danielle Garrett. Last names tend to be obvious, and mine is no exception. It comes from my father's name. Patrick Dwaine Garrett Jr. (My brother the third and my grandfather the first, though named still for his father, Dwaine, before him...). My first name was chosen spur of the moment. I was meant to be a Danielle. But whenever a parent picks, loves, and shares a name, it's sure to be stolen. Our neighbors, having their daughter shortly before I was to be born, decided to borrow it. Unfortunate. It didn't seem right to have two Danielles so close in age living right next to one another. So my parents picked again. They went through book upon book of baby names (Before the internet was the most popular resource (It's amazing to think we ourselves have been around since those days...).). Each name called back an unwanted memory. A middle school bully. A high school sweetheart gone sour. And to aggravate things more, I was to be born premature. Months expected for searching changed by a single routine checkup. I was no longer growing, in fact I was shrinking. No longer pulling nutrients into myself to develop, but rather eating up my resources. They never did figure out precisely why. But it seemed better to have me born then, a tiny creature not really prepared for the world, but close enough. Labor was induced. My name was chosen for lack of any other inspiring options. Apparently it means judgment by some interpretation.

Amusingly enough, I had a cousin born a mere twenty minutes before me. Zach. My aunt Mandy refused to have her younger brother have a kid before her, competitive as children and still as adults. Both calls went out at the same time, really. Two essentially healthy babies. (This sprung a nickname for Pat the first, now a grandfather twice, "Papa.") My great grandfather on my mother's side asked of me on hearing my name "Is she black?"

Knowing my name was not what it was intended, having no special tie to it, and generally being an easy-going person, I frequently introduce myself by my name, but with a waiver "But I don't care what you call me." Now I mostly go by Em. Why? No reason. I just said that once and somebody took me up on it consistently. It stuck. Em used to be my internet persona, mostly, but it crept into my life and is more me than Aliesha really ever was, probably. My internet persona replaced by QT, ironic since the internet is where I'm most outspoken and it stands for QuietTime, though some find a shallowly masked pun which was not intended, though is still speculated on.

I mostly didn't have nicknames until highschool. I didn't need them. My sister was fickle with her name, taking Alexandria to Alex, and then a different spelling of Allie (the current one) each year. Funny thing about that name. When we moved away from the neighbors who borrowed my name, my parents named my sister after another of their children- Alexandria. Bratty but oh-so-beautiful. But that's another story..

a multi-faceted response. I like hearing the circumstances of your naming, and of your early birth. And I like how you imagine so easily what you don't know first hand. You transition smoothly from one mode of thinking to the next.
I also find the story of Em interesting. It's curious that it works so well for you, compared to Aliesha, which is a very pretty name. The reactions of family members are so shocking sometimes...

I always wondered why you went by Em and not Aliesha. Very interesting story about your internet persona. It's funny how your neighbor's stole your parent's choice of name for their own child. It reminds me of an episode of Seinfeld that I watched in which a man let slip that he wanted to name his future child "Seven" because it would be a unique name. A couple expecting a child overheard and stole the name. Not so unique anymore.

You cover a lot of information in this freewrite. I think you do a beautiful job of connecting the pieces and making them flow into each other. Incorporating your premature birth was very interesting. I is also nice to understandwhy you go by "Em."