My Name Tastes Like Sour Milk

My name feels like falling; because one never wants to get up, but always does.  My name sounds like thunder in the sky; it shakes one with fear.  My name tastes like sour milk; used to be good, but now it is bad.   My name looks like a Picasso portrait; not knowing where anything belongs.

            My mother’s crush in 4th grade was a guy named Bret.  She was best friends with Bret’s younger sister, who was also in the 4th grade.  She liked and admired him, and played with his sister regularly.  One summer, Bret and his sister moved away. My mother has not seen him or his little sister again.  

            She liked the name Bret and when she was that age she vowed to name her son Bret.  When I was born in late July of 1988, my mom named me Bret Tucker Knight.

            However, I am not to fond of my middle name.  There are two reasons that Tucker is my middle name.  First and foremost, my grandmother’s maiden name is Tucker.  Her name was Doris Lee Tucker.  None of her kids, including my father, took her name. 

            Also, another one of my mom’s crushes was named Tucker.  She was even considering naming me Tucker after meeting my dad.  They then decided that the order of my name would be Bret Tucker Knight, because the name Bret was not popular back then and thought it would suit me best.  Since then, it has become a more common name. 

            I would like to be compared to Brett Favre.  He is a beast on the football field.  He probably wasn’t named after a crush from Junior High.  His name looks like a guy who has just climbed Mount Everest.  His name just sounds like greatness. 

            I also don’t like my name because every teacher that I have ever had spells my name with 2- not 1, but 2 “T”s.  I always get mad everywhere I go, because I have to correct them by saying it’s one “t”.  Then they end up crossing or erasing the other “t” out.  I hate it.  I must have answered that question 500 times in my life. It is an imaginary being it won't go away.  Even people that have asked me five times still get it wrong.  It's like there seeing my shadow and not me.

            I would like to change my name to a name that describes me better. Maybe Bill, Will, Bob, or Steve, but those names are too common.  Or Tom, Joe, Stu, or John, but those names are too short.  It could be Shane, Hunter, Rob, or Chad, but I know people with these names, so that won’t work.  Bret Tucker Knight is My NAME.  No matter if it is rain, snow, extreme heat, or just hating it, it is still my name and will always be My NAME.