The Tall Boss is trying to come up with a name for my new persona. The one I used today when I had to lead a record THIRD presentation on a particularly stinky (no, that is not a misspelling) prodject (that *is* a misspelling but an intentional one).

So she asked me what my middle name was. I didn’t exactly answer that. It wasn’t because I am ashamed of my middle name. It’s Emily and I was named after my maternal grandmother, The Commander’s mother, who died in a traffic accident when The Comm was almost 15 (December 1935). The story I’ve always been told is that she was hit by a drunk driver and that may have been true but an old newspaper clipping that I found in the Landfill Dungeon a while back indicated that she was speeding so it sounds like there was more to the story than I grew up knowing although make no mistake, I am NOT in any way in favor of people driving drunk. I do have to wonder what the traffic was like 81 years ago even down here. I’m sure that it was *nothing* like it is now. For example, there are folks in Ann Arbor who are still alive who remember when 13-14-year-olds could drive tractors and things down Miller to attend 8th grade at Mack School. That would be many years fewer than 81 years ago and, while Miller may not be one of our major arteries, it gets a lot of traffic during certain hours of the day.

So Emily the grandmother I never knew sounds like she was a Force of Nature and I am honored to be named after her. But “Anne”? That name (for me anyway) has never lent my shy personality any measure of self confidence. I won’t say what name I “lusted” after as a child but it is a name that people have sometimes mistakenly called me as an adult. Even before I named a child that name. That child has rejected her birth name and I long ago gave her my blessing. I of all people understand that parents sometimes mis-name their children.

So, I told the Tall Boss that I go by Kayak Woman on the internet. And I also told her about how we started calling my mother The Commander late in her life. I don’t really need a persona for these meetings but I suspect I might get one because the Tall Boss kind of rocks in general.

One more thing I have to say. I remember when I was a kid and My Dear Uncle Harry always called me Anne Emily. I wasn’t always happy about that as a nasty little kid but I share the Anne name with his daughter (my cousin) and I know that he was trying to distinguish us as different people. As an adult I have grown to love whatever the heck Harry calls me and so whenever I have had an occasion to call him I have always said, “This is Anne Emily”. Last summer, I loved that he yelled out from his back porch something like, “Hey, Kayak Woman!” I am outta words at this point but here’s the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love and you will understand how I feel about my uncle and all of the other members of my extended family, both Fin and Mac. And I will forever love being called Anne Emily (or Kayak Woman) by my Dear Uncle Harry.

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