I love my name. I am not sure I could always say that. There was a time I tried on Susan for a couple years when we moved to Beavercreek, Ohio when I was in Junior High. I thought I needed to be more sophisticated now that I was an adult. Or nearly an adult. I changed it right back when we moved two years later.
When we got married, I knew I wouldn’t take my husband’s name. I was Susie Franscini after all and everyone at work knew me by that and I had a business reputation in that name, blah, blah, blah. So I kept just my maiden name at work and on my official paperwork. I did change my driver’s license. It was fun to see coworkers at the airport wondering about Mrs. Davis.
When I was broken and separated but knew what a mistake I had made, I realized that I was Mrs. Davis. I wanted to be Mrs. Davis. I was sorry that I hadn’t fully embraced his name and how that must have, at some level he never showed, hurt him.
So I became Susie Davis. During that time, I worked hard to throw out all that had been Susie Franscini. Her hard driving, type A overachiever control-freak ways. I left all of that behind. But that didn’t really fit either. There are also a whole lot of ladies named Susie Davis and I respect them too much to add to the pool unnecessarily. ☺
I began to realize that, wait, there was a lot of good in Susie Franscini. She had a way about her and a tremendous amount of positives to offer. So I welcomed all of it back in, this time much more aware of what I didn’t want and what I did. I realized and learned to begin to see what was just fear or insecurity driving good qualities into not so good qualities. I learned that with awareness and choice, I can funnel the qualities more and more in my desired direction.
So now I am and embrace all that is Susie Franscini Davis. And yes, it is ridiculously long and too many syllables. I get that. I also love that and the fact that it is different. I love that it breaks some rules. It is me.
