You Are Beloved
I imagine a woman on Valentine’s Day in 1964 giving birth to her sixth child with the sudden realization that it was a girl. This was more than she could handle after having five boys. She was confused, she was worried and postpartum depression set in and it was strong. She gave birth to a little girl and in the midst of confusion, chaos and depression she gave her a name that means “beloved”. When I was a little girl I thought that the name Amy was a little girl’s name. I couldn’t imagine growing up with that name. It bothered me so much that I cried to my dad explaining that I would be made fun of with this name. It was some time later that we were sitting outside, as we often did in our little rural town, and we watched a woman ride by on her horse. My dad said, “Do you see that grown-up woman? Her name is Amy”. My dad knew two things about me; I loved horses and I was still scared about growing up with this name. Was he telling the truth that day? I don’t know