As you were growing up, did your momma or daddy have a special nickname for you? My mom did and I used it to my advantage. Or so I thought.
My old elementary school, Green Hill, was rather small and out in the country. Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but as a child, I wanted to go to a bigger school like I had watched kids attend on TV shows. Why? Because they were always having fun and some kind of adventure. I thought that was normal for big schools. When I was twelve years old, I finally got my chance. That’s when I started attending Halls Middle School. My other classmates were nowhere near as excited about it as I was. I saw this as new way of life for me.
I thought the first thing I needed to do was to go by a different name. It’s no secret that I don’t like my first name. Never have. In my mind, having a more normal name would endear me more to my new classmates and I would be accepted in with no problems. Nowadays, some would say that I was trying to reinvent myself. So, the summer before I started at Halls, I began to think about what name to use. After all, this momentous decision was going to affect the rest of my school life. I considered going my middle name: Dawn, which I have always liked. Looking back, I wish I had used that one instead of what I had chosen. So, what did I pick?
In my previous article: “Black-eyed Susie,” I discussed my mother-in-law’s uncle giving her that nickname and how she went by “Sue” for most of her life. I experienced something similar. Since my first name starts with the letter B, my mom called me “Little B” when I was small. As I grew, she changed it to “Big B.” So, I decided to go with that. When I started Halls, I told all of my teachers that I went by B.” Also, I told some of my classmates from my old school so they wouldn’t dare mention my real name. You know, it didn’t take long for them to adjust to it. After all, it was no secret to anybody on how I felt about my name.
At first, I really enjoyed the name change. To be honest, it was kinda freeing to me. Then I began to have some issues with it. The first one happened when I was asked how to spell it. Not having thought that far ahead, I answered: “Just a B with a dot.” “B.” was literally how spelled my new name. Some even began to call me: “B Dot.” To be honest, I really didn’t like that. Another problem was that some began to spell my name as: “B-e-a.” The annual even spelled it that way. Of course, that lead some to call me: “Beatrice,” since they assumed Bea was short for that name. But there arose another issue that really irritated me. Some of the kids started calling me: “Aunt Bea.” Yes, the character from the “Andy Griffith Show.” Too bad I didn’t choose to go by Dawn.
By the time I graduated high school, I felt as if I had out grown being called “B.” That being said, I still didn’t want to use my old name. As for my middle name Dawn, that opportunity had long passed. Again, my mom came to the rescue. She said since Brooke Shields had become popular, there were more people with that name. After I got my real first job, they asked what I wanted to be called. Of course, I answered: “Brooke.” When I started college. I could always tell when the teacher came to my name as they went through the class roster. They would stop and stare the page for a few seconds. Before they could butcher my actual name, I would always raise my hand and say: “Just call me Brooke.” Yep, I had again reinvented myself.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
God changed the names of many people in the Old and New Testaments. The details of each vary some, but in each instance, it was a new begging for them. The same can be said of us when we accept Christ as our Savior. Everything is new for us in that our old nature is no more. It’s like seeing life through a whole new lens. Have you experienced that?
Recently I acquired a new name that I absolutely love: “BiBi.” My grandson Maverick calls me that as will our soon to be born Granddaughter Mallory. As for my daughter Sara, she has called me: “Mamma Llama,” for a few years now. She even gave me some Llama socks. I used a one as picture for the article. As long as she doesn’t think I look like a llama, I’m good.

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.