From the very beginning

Back, long ago, even before I wore pink poodle barrettes in my hair … the  name debate began.

My mother judiciously guarded her first choice, while my father was busy polling the folks at work.

Raking through ancient memories, I can’t remember clearly my Dad’s take on this subject  …  Just that he loved the name Debbie … Deborah.  Maybe it was part of the Debbie Reynolds magic that made this beautiful name so very popular back then.  Not to overlook the majesty of the Old Testament birthright. It’s a fabulous name and is parked way up there on my evolving Girls List — (Hint to my favorite readers: this list will be divulged slowly in weeks to come)  … but first a bit of history about my naming.

Oh, dear — one last diversion–I must tell you about a Debi I once knew: an amazing Bryn Mawr enchantress, who hitchhiked shoulder to shoulder with me — all the way from Philly to Buffalo, seeking rides together from strangers during the chilly weekend hours in January 1972! (Talk about downright risky behavior! We were awfully lucky sophomores to get there in one piece!)

My old conspicuously adventurous pal Debi also went by “Bibi,” a name spawned by a slightly deaf florist, back when we called Hilary Hilly and I answered to Poohs. (Nicknames matter.)

That said, the name Pamela’s mine for keeps because my mother held her ground at home while my father managed the Baby Poll Drill.  I was a late summer baby, and it’s easy to imagine how those last weeks in hot and soggy Manhattan must have been quite a haul.  I bet sallying back and forth between Debbie and Pammy helped them lose sight of how hot it was outside while I was cooking inside.  And since my mother did all the carriage work, it made sense, don’t you agree, that her favorite girls name would prevail —

As my mother reminded me through the years, her pick was never in question.

All these months and weeks after the debate was resolved, I’ve migrated safely between Pammy, Pammyloaf, Pamela, and Pam … and Poohs .. on hot days, cold days, any kind of days —

weatherspark.com/history/31081/1952/New-York-United-States

www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/pamela