Susanna. SJ Dodgson MJoTA 2014 v8n1 p0105
I was not born Susanna. My mother, Dr Patience, gave birth to 2 boys 12 months and 24 months before me, I guess she was too exhausted to think of a name. She gave me the number 1 name in Britain, Susan. Dr Patience gave birth to 2 boys after me, she never had another chance to name a girl.
I know when I was getting ready to name my own daughter, my mother told me not to name her Patience and reeled off all the names she had been hanging on to for decades. I did anyway. How could I not name my daughter after my fierce, fearless, strong mother. I am a Patience sandwich.
When I was in school in Australia, approximately 25% of my class-mates were named Susan, or had a sister or 2nd name of a variant of Susan. However, I had an edge. My father had in his study a big red Bible which included all the stories from the Bible, including that of Susanna. I loved how Susanna was falsely accused and saved by angels. That sounded like me.
And so from the age of 14 I tried to get people around me to call me Susanna. In the decades since, it has mostly worked. Except when I am back in Sydney. Where I am either called Dodgie or Sue. My mother never gave in: to her, I was always Susan. I miss the warrior woman who named me.
