Eliza - My Name

My name is "Eliza," and just like Liza Minnelli, that's Eliza with a "Z." I love my name, even though all through my life people have mispronounced it, told me it should be spelled with an "S," and said it reminds them of Eliza Doolittle, the character in "My Fair Lady." I don't care, my name makes me feel more than a single mom and student, it makes me feel special and unique, somehow. I love the sound of that Z. As it rolls off my tongue, and how confused people get when it's not spelled with an S. Older Hispanics always think that, and I have to correct them. Don't you hate it when people just "assume" they know your name, when they really have no idea? I do, and when people call me Elisa or even Elizabeth, I have to correct them, and fast, because it grates on me like fingernails running over a chalkboard. My name is the epitome of who I am, and it should be right!

A love my name too, because it came from my father. Did you know it means, "God is my oath?" I didn't until I looked it up, but my father did, because he was Biblical and artistic, and he would know these things. I think about that when I look in the mirror, and see my dark hair, olive skin, and wistful smile. My father gave me my name, and that is just another reason I am so proud to carry it. it's an old-fashioned name, to be sure, but that suits me, I think. I don't have old-fashioned values in some areas, but in others, I'm very much the traditional girl. I may be a single mother, but like parents of all ages, I want more for my son, and I want him to appreciate who he is and who he comes from. Sometimes I think that my father named me perfectly, because my name is special, and he wanted me to feel special, too. I do, and not because so many people don't understand my name. I feel special because my father gave me a gift of a wonderful name, that rolls off my tongue and hovers over me like a bird in flight. I am Eliza with a Z, and I would never change that.