How I got my name.

[Doreen Peri]

Here's how it came about.

First, my mother and father weren't talking when I was born because my mother refused to admit she was pregnant. From what I'm told, they argued at length about what to name me.

Mom would say, "I can't name a baby I'm not having."

Dad would argue, "But you ARE having a baby and I suggest we name it John."

Mom would reply, "But what if it's a girl? That's an odd name for a girl!"

Dad answered, "I thought you weren't having a baby."

Mom said, "That's right. I'm not. Let's not talk about it."

And so it went. They stopped talking about it and to this day, Mom swears she wasn't pregnant with me and that I wasn't her child, despite the fact that she went into labor and I was born and she was there to witness it. Dad said he wasn't there either. He was busy overseas doing whatever he said he was doing in submarines.

So, the day that I was born was an uneventful day other than the fact that there is so much debate surrounding whether or not it even happened.

The nurse who was the aide to the doctor who delivered me was named Violet. Violet wanted me to be named after her. The doctor was fine with that and so they named me Violet because Mom and Dad didn't care since neither of them claim to have been there.

When I was 13, I got teased a lot about the name Violet even though nobody really called me that very often. They used to call me Jo. I don't know where they got Jo from but I didn't like it much because it didn't sound at all like Violet and I didn't know people were talking to me.

So because they teased me about my name Violet, saying awful things to me, mimicking the playing of a violin, saying it sounded like violence, telling me it was a violation of a name... Oh, I could go on but it would bore you but if I did, you'd know why I decided to change my name permanently.

I changed it to Doreen because I liked the local newscaster lady named Doreen. She had lovely hair. I also changed my last name to Peri because I was in and around and about everything and I wanted my name to be just like me. Plus since my Mom and Dad claimed I was never born, I felt it important not to take their name but to make a claim on a new name so when people googled me they could find me.

[Arcadia]

well, as I was told my mother thought me most of the time Jean Paul and also played with Erika and Florencia´s idea and then (why?) ) changed towards Verónica´s father´s brother suggestion but always (in her own words) thinking in french... Veronique? And all that to call me with the full name only when she was very angry and the rest of the time using vero, nikita or tuli!

gracias for sharing your story, doreen!

[Doreen Peri]

well, as I was told my mother thought me most of the time Jean Paul and also played with Erika and Florencia´s idea and then (why?) ) changed towards Verónica´s father´s brother suggestion but always (in her own words) thinking in french... Veronique? And all that to call me with the full name only when she was very angry and the rest of the time using vero, nikita or tuli!

gracias for sharing your story, doreen!

At least your story makes sense!

[Lightning Rod]

very whimsical doreen
nice flight of the imagination
Vonnegut would have been proud of you

[Doreen Peri]

thanks, Clay

and my mom and dad thank you too

and Violet

And Dr. Jo Jokovski

[judih]

and google thanks you for allowing them to algorithm you into the netscape.

[mtmynd]

I never went by Cecil until I was 21 and had no choice.

[Doreen Peri]

I asked them to call me judih but they said they thought i was talking about you so they called you judih instead, judih.

Cecil, they DID call me Cecil for a couple of years before I was 21 and I couldn't stop them so I had no choice but to say, "Who?"

[mtmynd]

what a relief to know that after all these years..! whew!!

[Doreen Peri]

Yes. Actually it was my sister's idea to call me Cecil. My mom and dad disagreed as Mom continued denying having me to begin with and Dad was still away on the submarine.

But my sister persisted. She kept calling me for dinner... "Cecil! Dinner's ready!" and I'd say, "Who?" and she'd reply, "You, Cecil, you! Let's eat!"

Given the fact that I was starving, I'd always come to dinner when she announced it no matter what she called me. She was a good cook, after all, and Mom and Dad were often on vacation. Well, they were working vacations for Dad. Submarine stuff. Mom just went along 'cause she got a free plane ticket paid for by Dad's work. Somebody had to cook. And that left my sister to do it because I was too busy trying to figure out what I wanted to call myself.

This was pre-computer days so I couldn't search for names on Google. I had to make them up. And when my sister, Gwendolyn, started calling me Cecil when she called me to dinner, well, I just went along with it though I begged her to call me Cecilia instead. She didn't listen.

Gwendolyn made great hot dogs.

That's not her real name, by the way. That's just what I called her. Her real name was Jacqueline.

[mtmynd]

You do kinda look like a Cecil.. but not really exactly like this Cecil. More like that Cecil Gwendolyn saw whenever she acted like Jaqueline, but not before... no, no! That Cecil, the one Jaqueline saw - you look nothing like that Cecil... believe me.. I know what I'm talkin' about when it comes to Ceciling.

[mudshark]

haha! nice, doreen. ahh... childhood storys.
this was a special one, though.
i wish Gwendolyn luck with whatever shes doing btw.

[Doreen Peri]

Cecil .... I think you've convinced me to change my name to Cecil Gwendolyn.

love,
Cecil

mudshark ... Gwendolyn is writing a novel. She told me to tell you hello.

[mtmynd]

phan-fucking-tas-tik, Cecil G. !

(can I call you CG ?)

[Doreen Peri]

oh sure!

hmmm.... maybe I should change my name to CG

there's another idea!

lol