Had a Great Day

The day began with the giggle of my grandson which is recorded in a card that I keep on the counter. His voice and laughter make every day the perfect day. I love to hear my name, "Marnie" while he laughs. I am so lucky to be a Marnie. It made me think of all the names I have had over the years and I realized that I have traveled a long long way on the path of names.

I began with three names -- Margaret Ann Simon. Fairly straightforward and not too exciting. I always think of this name as the standard one given to a child who is not too good looking and probably nothing special. As you can probably guess, I never really liked my name. Margaret Ann reminded me of Dennis the Menaces Girlfriend and since she was soooo very unattractive, I never felt good about it. I was nicknamed Marnie by my grandmothers and cousins and always enjoyed it but never wanted my classmates or "the outside world" to call me this for it reminded me of the character "Marnie" in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds." And the nickname of Margie was reminiscent of the television show "My Little Margie" so that too became taboo! So, without much thought, I decided that Margy (pronounced Mar gee) would be much preferable and I announced it to my teacher in the fourth grade. I have been Margy ever since.

That worked well for me and I loved being known as this. No one ever associated me with Margaret Ann again. I think that I grew into this name and thought of myself as being more attractive because of the name. When we moved to Belgium, I was no longer even remembered as Margaret Ann and became merely Margy Simon -- the cheerleader, honors society president, class secretary, field hockey team member, track team member, thesbian (not a great one) and every other extra-curricular activity that one could have in our school. For the six years I attended the International School of Bruxelles, I was Margy. I loved that life.

I then went to college, Mount Holyoke College to be exact, and became Margy Simon -- the ivy league student. This Margy was a math major, hard worker, not particularly an extra-curricular activity type of person and one who did not date. I actually became a small fish in that pond and assumed a quiet personna. But, I was still Margy. I was still a single, unique person with my own "solo" agenda.

Then came Wally and after three days, and three months, we were married and I became Margaret Ann Simon Darneille aka Margy Darneille and then I was two. I was not just Margy, but I was a wife. I was Wally's partner and my personna has never been unique again. I then became Wally's wife and Jason, Meredith, Jenny & Marshall's mom and now I am Marshall Camp's Marnie. While being a wife, mom, grandmom, I have also been a Professional Fund-Raiser, member of the Junior League, Executive Director of the Business Committee for the Arts, Executive Director of the Montgomery Zoo Campaign, Development Director for AmTech corporation, Office Manager for Interior Concepts, and Independent Fund-Raising Consultant. I am a marathon runner, exercise officianado, gym rat and generally a hyper-active type of individual. All this to say, I wonder when we come into this world and are given a name, how many names or titles we will have when we reach a certain age? How will this define the person your are or do you define the title you are given?

I began this muse because I was thinking about one's definition in any given situation. When I was a mom of at home children and younger children, my friends were easy to determine. Other moms of at home children and younger children -- each with their own little person or little people. When I was working, I was friends with like people in the profession. When I was volunteering, I was friends with other volunteers; while running, other runners were my partners in crime. So, when I moved to Lubbock, I realized that I was no longer a "mom" -- in terms of my day to day involvement, I was no longer working, my running was solo, and my only remaining "title" was Mrs. to Mr. Darneille. It made making new friends more challenging as I had never had to do this before. Now, mind you, this is not impossible, but I had approached a new learning curve and I was on the upward path in the process. Five years into the journey, I am "getting" where I was and how I have gotten to where I am. I am going to do a more pro-active outreach and become a person of other "titles" and seek like-minded souls in this process.

I think that the aging process is something that I am addressing. We all go through life and enjoy the various stages of our day to day: adolescent madness, collegiant intellectualism, early marriage excitment, parenthood and grandparenthood. Each phase has its root in the next and we are all tied to the past in preparing for the future. We grow by accepting the end of an era and gain great independence by greeting the future with open arms.

I am greeting my future today. With the laughter of my grandson to lead me on that path.