My Catholic Name

Call me small, petite, skinny and/or tiny as these names have aired during my life on repeat. I wonder if my size is just coincidence or predetermined to be dispensed because my first name came from my paternal great-grandmother who was likewise ‘condensed.’ Born in 1857, she died in 1952, years before Mama was in Dad’s view. I know she liked to be barefoot most of the time, bore nine children who all thrived, loved to fish which she did to feed them in their farm-poor, struggling existence. Her entire life was spent in one of America’s most southern states, just like my maternal great-grandmother from whom my middle name came. Though her portrait adorns my home, I only know she bore four children without a ripple and lived a long life in a middle-class vision as honed by her constant depression. I feel connected to both women whose lives seeded my future. They share a divine tapestry with me and surely, some features of their physical, mental or emotional traits are visible in me. I also feel them during every film with nuns I watch because my combined names will surely belong to one. This amuses me because all branches on my family tree have long grown protestant leaves. ...CayCay March 11, 2019 (unfortunately, on my screen, paragraphs are interrupted by gaps that I cannot make go away despite my best efforts)