What's In A Name?

My name: Merrill as in Merrill Lynch sans the money. Mom's name was Betty, Dad's was Merrill, and since I was going to be a Girl Raised In The South (GRITS), they put the two together for a creative double name.

The Blog: This is an effort to keep my outlook on life positive. As I have grown older (not wiser),  cynicism sticks its sneaky claws into my mind, and that's not how I want to be whether I'm 6 or 60.

What can be accomplished? Bring smiles and good memories to you and me as I recount situations that are funny, hopeful, and sometimes self-deprecating. One of my favorite writers is Anne Lamott. She talks about serious topics that could bring tears, but manages to make us laugh in spite of it all.

Edward Merrill and Betty June Denton 1946

Back to my name--A double name like Betty Merrill in a tiny southern town wound up getting pronounced all in one syllable BMerrill; in high school, my friends discovered that Merrill rhymed with squirrel, (that wasn't a complimentary term) so it was Merrill the Squirrel. Then there were the good folks who pronounced it like Merle, as in Merle Haggard. When I started college it was quickly shortened to Betty. Heaven forbid anyone think Merrill was my maiden name! At that point in my life I was doing well to get a date. I didn't need the negative publicity when roll was called in class.

Do I expect anyone to read this? It is unlikely, save for a few of my relatives and friends who will be embarrassed if I ask them what they thought and they can't answer. I'm praying the friends and relatives I have who are grammar whizzes will forgive my faux pas. Even though reading was my favorite past time,  I never could get it straight where the commas were supposed to go... too much like Algebra to suit me. There will be mixed metaphors galore, so get ready. Melatropism will be around because my maternal grandmother was a master at it, and the gene pool is deep. Her most famous one is "the atheists were eating up her potted plants". Those pesky Godless bugs can take over a planter in a second.

John Harold (Hal) and Betty Merrill Denton 1953

If this hasn't put you to sleep already, thanks for reading it. Use it like Ambien; you won't get up in the middle of the night and not realize it.

Ever thankful!  bmw