What’s In A Name

In March of 2019, more than a year before I cracked open most of my adoption story, I drafted a Slice of Life I never published- about my name. Today I’m returning to that draft. Revising. Ready to publish.

The nuns who cared for me in the convent orphanage called me Mary Ellen. When they nestled me in my mother’s arms four weeks after I was born, they did not share an explanation for my name. Perhaps there wasn’t one. I was born to an unwed Irish Catholic couple my parents were told. Mary Ellen was a good Irish Catholic name. She was a nurse they were told. She wanted me to be raised in a Catholic home. They were not told that her name was Mary Ann. Perhaps the nuns did not know. My parents changed my name to Lisa. They gave me a middle name, Siobhan, to honor my Irish heritage. It’s a name I have always cherished, sometimes wishing it was my first name. Turns out the unwed couple married and I am the eldest of their three children. My two siblings have Irish names that begin with the letter S. This is what we share. 

 

Thank you, Two Writing Teachers for hosting the annual Slice of Life Challenge. My life would be smaller without writing. I am proud to be participating in my 10th annual SOL writing challenge with you.