Why Y?

I'm not the author; I just love that there is another Bonny Becker out there.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I miss both of you, and especially when I have questions that I wish I had asked you. Lately I've been wondering why "y" instead of "ie"?

I do remember asking you why you chose to spell my name with a "y" instead of the more common "ie" sometime when I was around 10 years old. You told me that you wanted my name to be special and original, like me. That lovely answer certainly satisfied me, and I still remember it 50 years later. I remember Grandpa singing " My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" to me and telling me that it was my own special song. (That Bonnie is actually spelled with an "ie", but I couldn't distinguish the spelling while Grandpa was singing.)

So overall, I've been happy with my name, despite the month or two when I was five that I begged you to call me Diane, and the fact that I could never find pencils, key chains, or those plastic license plates meant for bikes at Spencer Gifts because my name was spelled differently.

But lately it's caused some issues. I worked with a woman for eight years, and she never did spell my name correctly even though I corrected her quite a few times. It's a small thing, but I still felt demeaned and less than. I guess the problem was with her and not me, but now it's the bank's refusal and my problem. We applied for a loan, and the spelling of my name has caused ridiculous complications. The first time we tried to close on the loan, my name was spelled "Bonnie" on all the documents. When I pointed out this error, we weren't able to close for five days while the loan department printed a new set of documents. On the second attempt at closing, I stared, dumbfounded, at the new documents printed with "Bonnie Y. Becker". Someone in the loan department had been told "It's a "y"", so that's what they did. Another week later, we tried again. This time the loan documents were printed correctly, but they made me sign them as "Bonnie Becker aka Bonny Becker". At this point, I didn't care, but was dumbfounded again that so many people steadfastly refused to believe that you had chosen "y" instead of "ie", even while they were staring at my birth certificate.

I wish I understood how and why you chose "y", but thank you for making me feel original and special. If only the rest of the world would pay attention to that small but important detail, then I would really feel special!

She not only has a lovely name, she writes great books, too!