Day 24: Something that I wish I could change

I've gone back and forth on this one.  There are lots of things in life that I wish I could change: my weight, the start time at school, my current hairstyle, my inability to sew, the distance between my house and Target, my ability to only speak one language, the inordinate amount of reality shows on TV these days, certain aspects of our house...  I could go on and on.  Some things I have little control over; others can change in one phone call.

But there was one thing that kept creeping into my brain. And I don't have a picture of it, so I'll have to tell you a story instead.  You'll get the idea.

When I was 15 years old, I was sitting in Algebra II on the first day of school.  Mr. Terry Waters was my teacher.  Over the summer the school had switched to a computerized attendance system.  We wouldn't get those paper report cards anymore--all our information was stored on disks and hard drives--it was a brave new world! :)  Anyway, I was sitting in class, listening to Mr. Waters call roll, when he stopped.  A grin the likes of which I've never seen crossed his face.  Not a happy, "I'm  so glad it's the first day of school" grin. No.  More like a "Boy am I going to have fun with this" grin.  And he was smiling directly at me. 

I got nervous.

He looked over his glasses, still grinning.

"Margaret?"

Crap. 

The stupid computerized system had made public my deepest secret: my first name.

For years, any time I had to register for something or go to a doctor, my mom would have to go through this whole speech. "Her name is Margaret Angela, but she goes by Angie."  Half the time they would remember, half the time they wouldn't.  It was annoying.  But I'd made it through 9.5 years of school without having to divulge that information to any of my friends.  Most of my teachers didn't even know because we'd nipped that little problem in the bud at the office.  But here I was, sitting in math, with nowhere to hide.

"Here, Mr. Waters."

I should probably clarify that at the time I'd known Mr. Waters for five years.  His daughter was my best friend.  We went to the same church.  And from that moment on, my name was Margaret as far as he was concerned.

Now, I love my parents.   They tend make pretty good decisions most of the time.  And I'm sure my namesake, my great-aunt Margaret,  was as wonderful as they say.  And really, it could've been much, much worse.  My Meme's name was Lubie Clyde.  My Mama's name was Geneva. 

Some days I thank the Lord that they settled on Margaret. :)