The name game

I saw this list online today and it brought back so many memories. Numbers 2, 5 and 6 in particular!

Growing up with a name like Natasha in a tiny rural town like Eaton, Ohio, had its drawbacks. My 10th grade English teacher called me Anastasia the entire year. My ENGLISH TEACHER!! I always had to spell it, and people always struggled over how to say it.

But looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I believe that your name and the reaction that people have the first time they hear it help shape your personality. And having a more exotic name in a small farming community has certainly contributed to who I am.

Sure there were hundreds of times I was called Natalie. I still get asked if I was named after the character in Rocky & Bullwinkle or if I’m Russian. The answer is no on both counts! Even at my own wedding, the justice of the peace reverted to calling me “That woman.” And there is a huge contingent of my family that still call me Tasha Lynn (with ‘a’ as in cash).

In elementary school I rebelled wishing I could be just another one of the many Jennifers in my class. We had so many the teacher had to devise strategies like Jen, Jenny, Jen S, etc. to keep them all straight. I cried many a tear over the worst nickname ever – Nat’R’asha.

But even after all of that, I think that parents named me correctly, and that I have finally grown into my moniker . And while I may always have to answer to Tasha Lynn, I will always know in my heart that Natasha is a pretty cool name.