11.13.2007

What's in a name...

What's in a name? My newly aquainted aunt posed this on her blog, Letters from Lin today. I started answering the question and realized my answer was pretty involved...so I moved it to my blog!


Well, If you know me, you know my name is Dawn Mercedes. Which is what I like better than any other name.

When my mom was in college, she had dated a boy who drove a Mercedes Benz. So when she was going to marry my dad, he promised her a Mercedes one day too.



Soon I came along...thus the Mercedes. I have always been their one and only Mercedes.

I think Dawn is from a friend of theirs...not sure on why they picked it. Maybe it just sounded good.


Growing up, I didn't like "Dawn Hatch" too much. It was too short. Plop, plop. My sisters all had very unique and unusal names for the time. Their names seemed much more interesting than mine. (But, boy, did all the boys love it when they found out what my middle name was...hehe.)

Later I grew more confident and took on "Mercedes" as my first name for about a year. I guess sort of the same reason Aunt Lin did. I was at a cross roads in my life. I needed a change and a break. A BIG change and a BIG break. A new name can do it for you every time. In fact, when my kids were younger and forever calling "mommy." One day, I told them I wasn't "mommy." I was Princess Aurora. So then there were times, that if they needed me attention, they'd call me "Princess Aurora." It could get my attention quicker and make the situation lighter/easier to bear. (Maybe that is why we like most nicknames. Through them we can become someone a little different. A little more tough, a little more althetic, a little more endearing.)

I was Mercedes when my husband met me. But as soon as he came to my parents' home and found out that my name was really Dawn, I was back to being Dawn again. (And maybe I should have insisted on being Mercedes. Just maybe.)

I think that given the choice, I might like to be just Mercedes. If I were to need a big change in my life again, you can bet that my name would go back to being Mercedes. Being Mercedes meant that I could be a different persona. Dawn is responsible and reliable and does what should be done. Mercedes is stronger, more sparkly, more umph. Now, I'm Dawn Mercedes online...and I'm pleased with that. It's a good balance. Again, if you really know me, then you know my name.

5 comments:

Great Grandma Lin said...

hi, amazing how you girls all look like your mom. so when my third hatch son was going to born we were into indian names and my then husband wanted to name our new baby "running water hatch"....well i saved our new son from that trauma and came up with the name "brook". he was always confused in school with having a girl's name and added "valentine" as his middle name since we didn't give him a middle name. he also goes by "brookula" and is a very unique individual. interestingly enough i like to be called mom now but i'm mostly called grandma because my dg-in-laws are the moms. grandma sound too old but i do love being a grandma and a new aunt lin. so there you have it....me

Lulu said...

Aren't you just adorable! I love your little entry today. Just wanted to let you know it made me smile. I think I need to try the Pricess Aurora thing with my kids - I'm always looking for a way to lighten up the tense moments when I don't seem to be listening to them - usually it's the other way around, but sometimes it's me not hearing them. So I think I might try that - only maybe I'll have them call me Queen Laurina the Beautiful. How do you think that will go over? :) I"m going to have to try this split personality thing - I'm liking how it works for you. Thanks for making me smile today.
Hey, I dated a guy from Waterford in college (many moons ago) He'd be around 36-37 now his name was Barry - my 1st roommate was from there too - He name was Vicki (darn I can't remember her last name) Of course I'm assuming you are originally from Waterford and would know every single person from there.
I'm rambling - I'm going back to stamping. Have a super day and thanks for sharing your name story.
Laura
Laura

QuiltNut Creations said...

love that picture of you

Rochelle W said...

You are really an interesting gal. I like that about you.

Judy Rozema said...

Oh my!! What a GORGEOUS picture that is!! And I loved reading about your name!!