What’s in a Name?
As a lover of words and the feel of them as we speak, the weight they carry in a sentence, the efficiency with which they can build or destroy--by extension--I’ve always felt a name carries it’s own meaning. We are each given one at birth but does it define us or do we define it?
It was shared with me that a southern tradition of surname hyphenation was a way to show someone’s link to power and wealth. It spoke about someone before they even entered a room.
For my Great-Grandfather--Anton Martinus Andersen--it means BRAVERY. Setting out from Copenhagen in 1903, leaving his Danish homeland for his American Dream. No guarantees, no safety net, he aimed his sights to an unknown land and sought not a fortune, but a future.
Stories I have been told of my great-grandfather are often of a barrel-chested man, laughing and playful. While short in stature, his physical strength and endurance was unmatched. He was a farmer, a worker, a husband, a father, he built a simple life full of family and love. Life wasn’t perfect, but it belonged to him.
My Grammy was his daughter. Trailblazer was her middle name. Never one to bend to the will of others, she had a giver’s heart with a rebel spirit. Martha Charlena Andersen was INTREPID. When life handed her cards that would have folded--she played them. Through life’s hardships--and there were plenty--she was no one’s victim. She was as glittery and sassy as she was devout and faithful. As my Wyatt said at her funeral “She was a darn good woman.” I could almost hear her laugh with pride.
Through the years, the Andersen name has meant different things to different people. To me, it’s symbolic of hard work, determination, tenacity, and INTEGRITY. It’s the name of a Danish dreamer who worked his fingers to the bone for his family, a man who loved and laughed and dared to dream dreams bigger than any I could imagine.
As I reflect on my Grammy and her father, I see myself. Tragedy and triumph, failure and success, accountability and getting back up. I am keenly aware my love of showmanship is a direct line that can be drawn through my dad, my Grammy, all the way back to her father; I hope as clear a line can be drawn to their integrity and determination.
All of these things are in a name--Andersen. I am embarking on my chosen career path, I am preparing for the last bits of college, and I am looking back on the path I’ve traveled to arrive at this destination I could have never imagined. With all of this said, I have decided to honor my Grammy and her father, my Danish heritage, and my metamorphosis. I have filed the requisite paperwork to legally change my first name to Andersen--Anders if you like. Those who have known me as Lisa for 42 years, will likely still call me Lisa and I will not object, that name is part of me too.
Today, I wrote my first business email and signed it “Andersen Boyer,” it felt right. More, it seems appropriate that my first day of my new position is the day before my Grammy’s 95th birthday, a day she tried so hard to reach. This change means a million things to me and perhaps the name doesn’t carry the weight of power and wealth, it carries the honor of an immigrant farmer who dared to dream a dream.