Names are my Playground

With the exception of my own name

2 min readMar 13, 2023

A bunch of names written on a white piece of paper in different directions in blue, purple, green, or red.
Photo taken by Daughter

When meeting you for the first time

I will get your first name and eventually your middle name. I will roll the words around on my tongue. Do they fit well together? What happens when you look at the initials? Is your name a palindrome? Is your middle name an ancient relative’s last name? Did your parents not like you?

I offer up my name for your consideration.

I was born with the initials HLP. Look at those initials. If you are given a sentence with some of the letters missing, your brain automatically fills in letters to form complete words. Is your brain adding in the letter “E?” Yep, that’s right. My initials make everyone think “help!”

When I was old enough to call my parents out on this, they just shrugged, left the room, and somewhere deep in the house, I heard boisterous laughter. They knew what they were doing.

Blindsided by a backward reverse

Years later, I have shed those initials. Now I’m HL. No flounces, no frills, no silliness. Life is straightforward and simple.

It turns out, however, karma doesn’t like to keep her hands to herself. Recently, I joined my first town board. With the town board responsibilities, I received a board email. My address is leeh@boardemail.

Do you see it yet? I may have been able to shed the “help” of my past, but I don’t feel I should be a backward “heel” in a professional setting.

Have any suggestions?

I’m considering another name change.

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Heather Lee
Heather Lee

Written by Heather Lee

One white cane in a sighted world

Responses (4)

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Great story about initials. Mine are JPS. My mother always told me she named me so my first initials would be JP as in J.P. Morgan. (that really dates me)

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My initials are B R. For years they were to be seen on British Rail trains. Sadly, privatisation put an end to it.

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I have to wonder what some parents are thinking when they chose names for their children. I put our children’s names through the wringer before we made a final decision.

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