Thursday, September 26, 2013

What's In A Name?

A simple name for a simple reason- after great debate and many attempts at being creative, punny, and unique, Birds Words won as title for my blog. I am Bird and these are my words.

I'm taking their word for it, but my parents tell me that they started calling me Leigh Bird as a baby for no particular reason and it just kind of stuck. We also have a 'Bear' and a 'Bug' in our family. It could be genetic.
There are probably fewer than 10 people who call me Bird, but it is as much a part of my identity as my last name, and probably slightly more so than my first name. (Leigh is actually my middle name.) When talking was still a relatively new trick for my niece I asked her what my name was. She said "Birdie." It was precious. 

It's a little crazy how much it soothing it is to hear "Hey Bird." It's like hearing "I know you, I love you, I like you, even if you do like to microwave cauliflower and stink up the kitchen, and I don't care if running turns you into a salty sweaty pink-faced, stinky shirted being with all the grace of a one-eyed goat."



There is pretty much nothing about me that is birdlike- not my appetite, my bone structure, my singing voice, or my bathing techniques. I'm a full on, deep-clean shower kind of girl. My hair isn't feather-like and the only worms I'll approach come in a Brach's bag.

But.

I have two colorful bird prints in my living room, hung in frames my grandfather built. They remind me that I am home, that I am me. No matter how many people I didn't get back to today, no matter how much dust there is on my dresser, no matter how incapable I am of doing an un-assisted pull-up, I am Leigh Bird. I am my parent's daughter, my brothers' sister, and 50% of Team Ramrod. (There is no clever way to combine our names.) 

Enjoy the words.


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