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Melanie Bettinelli's avatar

You'll always be Zina to me. But when you told me you were Christine before you were Zina, I felt honored and privileged to have been given the gift of your name. Especially since my own middle name is Christine.

Christine is of those names that is mine, but is so rarely used that I sometimes wonder why I have it. And yet when my parents call me Melanie Christine... I feel especially known and loved in a different way. That name really belongs to my childhood and to immediate family. It's not secret, but it is intimate.

Almost everyone just calls me Melanie. And that's my preference. I don't really love the nickname "Mel" because boys at school used to call me that in a way I didn't like. Also a manager at a job I disliked took it upon himself to call me Mel at our first meeting. It wasn't a nice thing. It felt like a power move and I hated it. But there is a small handful of people, mostly relatives and a few close friends, who can call me that shorter version of my name in a way that makes me feel loved and cherished and that doesn't grate at all.

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Diane Casavant's avatar

Growing up my siblings and friends called me Di but when I became a registered nurse and worked in hospitals I couldn't answer the phone, "Di here" ! 🙄

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