Hello, My Name is Adee…

This is Adee. Isn’t she lovely?  She didn’t start out in this world going by the name Adee. In fact, even before she breathed her first breath she was called by a different name.

I called her Rachel. We received hand-stitched towels and blankets with the name “Rachel” in soft pink hues. I loved the sound of it then, and still do.

When she was little I would sing softly to her as she would fall asleep, “I love you Rachel, oh yes I do. I love you Rachel, to you I’m true. When I’m away from you, I’m blue. Oh, Rachel, I love you.” This love affair between me, my daughter and her name continued until she was about 8. And then one day, things changed. Another Rachel in her same school. Believe it or not, up until this point she wasn’t really aware of many other girls with the name Rachel. In that regard, she felt rather unique. But no more. At an age where she was beginning her search for individuality, her name made her feel too common. Rachel was too passe.

Around this time she became Adee. A derivative of her middle name, Adele. A middle name we both share. Not aDEE, but AHdee. Rhymes with daddy.

It didn’t spill off my tongue right away. It felt a little awkward at first. Some of her friends refused to call her Adee. Some adults still won’t call her that. Her life was a precious gift to me. And I named that life Rachel. But her life is her own. How better to claim it for herself than by choosing her own name? Her own life’s label.

She calls herself Adee. My gift to her is to recognize her life. Her choice. I call her Adee.