... I thought I would answer some prompts!
Do you know what your name means, or why you received the name you did? Please share.
I always wondered about my name. It wasn't one of the "popular" ones of my time like Anne or Susan or Patricia. I wondered how my parents, both deaf, came across that name, Cassandra May.
I finally asked my mother. It turns out that Cassandra was one of my maternal greataunts who visited my mom's family once when she was little. My mom just fell in love with that name. May is my grandmother's middle name. I was satisfied with that.
It turns out that my dad can't say Cassandra and so they agreed to use my nickname, Cassie.
When I had braces on my teeth, I went to see an orthodontist who would tease me about my name. Cassandra is of Greek origin and it means prophet but that's not the whole story. The way the legend goes, Apollo gave Cassandra this gift of prophecy because he'd fallen in love with her and wanted to teach her how to use her power. She wasn't interested in him so he got pissed off and set a kind of curse on her. She could prophesy all she wanted but no one would believe her even though she'd be telling the truth. She tried to warn the Trojans not to accept the gift of a huge wooden horse (it was filled with enemy soldiers) but no one believed her and so Troy fell. Well, this dentist would ask me if any cities had fallen around me lately. Ha ha.
When I got to Maryland, none of the teachers called me Cassie. They all insisted on calling me Cassandra. Sometimes they'd say Ca-sawn-dra or some other silly thing and I would feel aggravated. Sometimes they'd decide to give me a nickname they came up with, like Casey or Sandy. I wouldn't answer when they called me by those names. They weren't my name.
My best friend in high school was surprised that I had a nickname. By that time I was so used to being called Cassandra by hearing people that it was almost like a cultural split. In the hearing world, I was Cassandra. In the deaf world, I was Cassie.
But now I am Cassie all the time. Hooray. I am me again, heh heh.
Hmm. I always thought my name was really scary, Cassie Renee. Renee means reborn.... I'm the prophet reborn. Gives ya somethin to think about, huh? lol.
Posted by: Cassie at March 4, 2004 10:21 PM