My mother, god bless, had me on a misty morning. Can you guess where this is going? Yes, she thought the description of the whether and time of day would be a good name for me. It gets better. She also wanted Rainy Day. Why yes, she was drugged at the time.

My godmother wanted to name me “Jessie.” My father, in his adventure of naming his kid a unique name, chose Jessica. Yes, Jessica. One of the most popular names of the year (’81). Now my mother, miffed I wasn’t gonna be a nice little description, said I’d have the middle name of Joyce. Joyce, her best friend who committed suicide only 4 months before, became my name. So I went from Misty Morning to Rainy Day to Jessica Joyce in a matter of hours.

Lesson to all this? Think ahead when naming your kid. Be unique but take into account initials and pop culture. My initials were JJ. Think back to the 70s and you’ll see why I cringe.

-Jessica