A couple of nights ago I posted a poem using a template called "Where I'm From." I had lots of fun writing the poem and thinking back through childhood and family lore. Many of the memories dredged up brought me a smile, so I thought I'd share a couple of the best.
So for all of my non-Catholic friends out there, I'm going to take a moment to explain the "extra name you get to choose yourself"line. You may or may not know that when you go through Confirmation in the Catholic church one of the perks is that you get to pick an extra name. This new name is officially recorded absolutely nowhere, but in theory, it goes between your middle name and last name. You're also supposed to pick a name of one of the saints. I may have just made that up but that was my impression. Confirmation happens around 7/8th grade. I'm pretty sure mine was in 8th grade, but not 100% sure. I started a new school in 7th grade and I feel like I'd been at school long enough to know very clearly who the cool kids were as well as to know that I was not of their rank. There was (and still is) only one of each denomination in my town (small town, with big 'ole wealthy churches) so if you were Catholic in my grade, then you were in my Confirmation class.
Back to the name choosing thing. The bottom line is that 8th grade is a pretty horrible time to allow kids to amend their names. The good news is that it could have been worse a few years earlier when I would have picked something super rad like Tiffani. No, instead I picked Katherine which really is a nice, normal, lovely name. I told people that I picked the name because it's in my family (cousin, and then my mom is Kathleen), and I even looked up something on St. Catherine (who I just checked out again on Wikipedia and was actually pretty awesome - a princess and scholar - SCORE!!! - I might want to take a pass on the virgin martyrdom, though).
However, here comes the real reason that I choose the name Katherine. Sigh, this is embarrassing. In middle school I was obsessed with the book Gone With the Wind. The book, mind you, not the abridged, watered-down, revisionist movie. I loved Scarlett. LOVED her. I probably wrote 5 different sequels in my head before that horrible Alexandra Ripley dross came out (which I totally got in trouble for going out and buying even though it was on my Christmas list because I just couldn't wait any longer). Anyway, any true lover of Scarlett knows that Scarlett was not actually her first name. Nope, Scarlett O'Hara was actually Katie Scarlett O'Hara (Hamilton Kennedy Butler). And choosing the Confirmation name Katherine was my secret, private nod to my heroine (ignoring the multiple failed marriages and driving Rhett away).
True confession: I even had my mom make me a Scarlett costume for Halloween (cough. in 9th grade). My dress didn't look like this one. But I loved this dress. When she comes down that double stairway and Rhett sees her for the firs time. Swoon. Hmm... I guess there are some things I liked about the movie after all.
Well, that secret's out. And I'll wait until tomorrow to share the even juicier secret of the true origins of my family Christmas breakfast.
So for all of my non-Catholic friends out there, I'm going to take a moment to explain the "extra name you get to choose yourself"line. You may or may not know that when you go through Confirmation in the Catholic church one of the perks is that you get to pick an extra name. This new name is officially recorded absolutely nowhere, but in theory, it goes between your middle name and last name. You're also supposed to pick a name of one of the saints. I may have just made that up but that was my impression. Confirmation happens around 7/8th grade. I'm pretty sure mine was in 8th grade, but not 100% sure. I started a new school in 7th grade and I feel like I'd been at school long enough to know very clearly who the cool kids were as well as to know that I was not of their rank. There was (and still is) only one of each denomination in my town (small town, with big 'ole wealthy churches) so if you were Catholic in my grade, then you were in my Confirmation class.
Back to the name choosing thing. The bottom line is that 8th grade is a pretty horrible time to allow kids to amend their names. The good news is that it could have been worse a few years earlier when I would have picked something super rad like Tiffani. No, instead I picked Katherine which really is a nice, normal, lovely name. I told people that I picked the name because it's in my family (cousin, and then my mom is Kathleen), and I even looked up something on St. Catherine (who I just checked out again on Wikipedia and was actually pretty awesome - a princess and scholar - SCORE!!! - I might want to take a pass on the virgin martyrdom, though).
However, here comes the real reason that I choose the name Katherine. Sigh, this is embarrassing. In middle school I was obsessed with the book Gone With the Wind. The book, mind you, not the abridged, watered-down, revisionist movie. I loved Scarlett. LOVED her. I probably wrote 5 different sequels in my head before that horrible Alexandra Ripley dross came out (which I totally got in trouble for going out and buying even though it was on my Christmas list because I just couldn't wait any longer). Anyway, any true lover of Scarlett knows that Scarlett was not actually her first name. Nope, Scarlett O'Hara was actually Katie Scarlett O'Hara (Hamilton Kennedy Butler). And choosing the Confirmation name Katherine was my secret, private nod to my heroine (ignoring the multiple failed marriages and driving Rhett away).
Well, that secret's out. And I'll wait until tomorrow to share the even juicier secret of the true origins of my family Christmas breakfast.
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