Madeleine

Madeleine. I hated my name as a child. That is the fault of school yard bullies who would look at me and say "What kind of name is that?" Just because Madeleine is a French name and I grew up in a very English place. It made me feel like a freak.

On the other hand. I always liked it when someone else was named Madeleine. Like the book Madeleine. We read that in grade two and I felt the teacher was reading it just to me. Then there was Madeleine L'Engels. Madeleine Kahn. Remember her?

They made me feel I wasn't alone in the world. Of course when I moved out to Eastern Canada, I couldn't have picked a better place than Ottawa. Madeleines abound out here, so close to Quebec. I even have found a cousin named Madeleine McLaughlin.

I was so excited to be close to people who didn't think Madeleine was a freak name that I even suggested to other Madeleines that we form a group. So silly. These women didn't need a group.

But all these experiences have taught me how narrow and mean those kids were back then. Re-thinking it, I realize it wasn't everyone that picked on me, just a few.

Just one more Madeleine. Madeleine McCann. I urge everyone to say a prayer for this little girl to bring her home to her parents. I'll put up a link you can go to for her.
http://www.findmadeleine.com/home.html

Now I like my name. I'm not a freak for being named Madeleine. I've learned everyone's name is beautiful. We're all beautiful. Except bullies.