Terry's 3M's
My son has stopped calling me Mama and started calling me Mommy. I don't know yet whether or not I like the change.
In Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three, Roland notes that names are powerful. At first, I dismissed that thought. But, upon some reflection, I realized that it is true.
On February 17, 1968, my step-mother grabbed me by the hair and slammed my head against a door jamb 11 times. Then she told me that after she got home from work that night, that she was going to lock my brothers and I in the house and burn the house down around us. My offense? I had given my half-sister a Columbia Record House advertisement to keep her amused while she was sitting in her potty chair. She tore it in half.
I reported this incident to the school nurse (long involved story about Children Services having an ongoing investigation of this case) and she informed Children's Services. I was pulled out of class after lunch and informed that I was not to go home. Someone from Children's Services would be there to pick me up and I was going to be placed into a foster home that afternoon.
I was placed in a wonderful foster home and my brothers were also placed in different foster homes.
Pa Kline had been told that there would be a new foster child there when he got home from work. What else he was told, I don't know. All I know is that when he walked in the door that night, he said, "Hello, Terry." And I've been Terry ever since that night.
Theresa was an exploited, brow-beaten, physically and sexually abused girl. Terry became secure and self-confident. Theresa was shy, silent, and self-effacing. Terry was bolder, gregarious, and loquacious.
There are parts of Theresa that I try to recapture. Theresa was the writer. She would write to escape the pain of everyday living. Terry was too busy living and learning new things to have time to write.
So, for me, changing my name was a powerful tool. And I'm still debating on whether or not I like Mommy better than Mama.
for the border background set.