GeorgetteJohn is not My Legal Name

When I was a child I had a speech impediment. I rarely spoke and resorted to writing as my favorite method of expression. As an adult, I have no problem speaking and sometimes I catch myself making up for the years I did not use my voice! In reality, there have been many times when I have wished I had spoken less, listened more, and never changed the tide of writing my thoughts and opinions on paper prior to vocalizing them! GeorgetteJohn is not my real name. It is the username I initially chose for one reason but stuck with for another. I believed it would provide a degree of anonymity that would provide me with a sense of true expression, without fear of criticism or ramification and then I realized that I was being rather foolish. What I write and how I write is a reflection of who I am and I am comfortable with that. Why would I want to hide behind myself?

With that said, why did I chose to keep a name other than my own? Simply because it is a variation of the names of two men I hold dear in my heart, my grandfathers: George and John. Two distinctively different men with one thing in common: they loved me, taught me, and even after their deaths, influenced my life. In part, I have been the daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and friend because they lived and shared their thoughts, their words, and were never afraid to speak them. 

Individually they both demonstrated, in different ways in their lives that people can  “agree to disagree” and still show respect, that one should never judge another without “walking in their shoes”, and that a person is never too old to gain insight, have a change of perspective or to learn something new from another.

Whenever I took my children on a trip it seemed as though we would get lost.  Sometimes momentarily, sometimes a bit longer.  I would laugh and tell them it was an adventure. I also frequently encouraged them to look at their “learning experiences” as one. When they would indicate they were apprehensive about doing something or going somewhere, I would remind them it had the potential to be an adventure. It is a word commonly used in our family.  A word that has influenced another generation as my grandson frequently asks me when we are going on our next one!

I have decided it is fitting, actually an honor, to use the names of my grandfathers as I strike out alone to start writing on wizzley. I am sure it will be a learning experience, I will undoubtedly feel some apprehension, I might get a little lost at times, but I will approach it as an adventure!