Metamorphosis of my Name

K-A-T-H-Y. That’s it. That’s my name. My mother tells me that in the 50’s Kathy was a popular name. I always hoped she would tell me some great saga as to why she picked that name. I had a great aunt named Katherine. I had at least hoped that maybe I was named for her. But, no, Kathy just sounded cute at the time.

I suppose when I was younger I actually liked hearing my name. It was pretty easy to spell when I was starting out in school. At least I didn’t have to spell Delphinium or Joaquin. I wasn’t embarrassed when the teacher would call my name.

Somewhere around middle school I began to think I needed something more. So to be cool, I thought I would drop the “y” and add “ie”. That didn’t last very long because the teachers always got bent out of shape when you turned something in that was not on their roll.

During college I was in for the dramatic.  I really thought I should be called Katherine. I loved old movies and my favorite actress was Katherine Hepburn. There was also Katherine Duneuve. She was beautiful and classy. But, I found out she actually spelled hers with a “C”. I even was thinking about Katherine the Great, but nobody was buying into that one. Oh well, Kathy was fine. I could live with that.

During our son’s college football days, I received the name of Kit Kat from some members of the team. I could have been insulted since it was the name of a candy bar. But no, it made me feel like I was part of them. You know, one of the guys. I got my own nickname. That name has especially come to mean even more to me now. That is what my grandchildren call me. There is nothing sweeter than to hear on the phone, “Watcha’ doing Kit KAT?”

As I reflect on my life I’m drawn to the fact that as I wrestled to find meaning in my name, the same is true of my life. We all want our names to have meaning. We hope that in the small time we are here our lives would have been meaningful. Now a days, it’s not the name you call me I am concerned with, but what example have I left. The name I want you to remember is Jesus Christ.