Mom and dad, I love you both. I know you would both do anything for me and that you guys love me with everything in you. There is just one thing I'll never understand though. Why couldn't I have a common name? You know, names such as Kate, Linda, Michelle, or Kim?
Don't get me wrong, my name is beautiful and now that I'm older I absolutely love it. But do you know how heartbroken I was while growing up and realizing that I would never find my name on a keychain when I'd go on field trips or vacations? Very heartbroken. All of the other kids would brag and say, "Look at my cool new keychain, it has butterflies on it." or "Check out my new holographic keychain, isn't it cool?" I felt like such a loner.
I mean, I always got other things at gift shops. Things like cool post cards or a t-shirt of some sort, but nothing and I mean nothing, compared to a keychain. I don't know, I guess I felt like to compensate for my nine letter long name that no one ever pronounced or spelled right, that I should at least get a keychain with my name on it. The universe and manufacturing companies owed me that much right? The kids who don't have common names want keychains just like everybody else does. It was always very frustrating.
I would search high and low on the keychain stand in gift shops, in hopes of finding my name. I left empty handed every time. It was never fair. I deserved a keychain just like everybody else and I longed for the day when I would finally get one.
God bless my mother for finding a stand at the State Fair one year that sold handmade things. She disappeared for about thirty minutes and then came back with a wooden keychain that she had my name engraved into. We had walked by a keychain stand earlier that day and I said, "I'll never know what it's like to have a keychain with my name on it." So she took the liberty of going and getting me my own special, personal keychain. It's still one of my favorite things to this day. See, that's how important keychains are to us kids who were deprived of them in our youth.
If I didn't have that wooden one though, my name would never be found. And if it ever was it would have to be a miracle. While growing up, people called me Frankee. I guess my parents just thought that it would be easier to say than Francesca when I was younger. Anyways, the closest name I could ever find to my nickname was Frank. And you know, it just wasn't the same. I wanted my real name on a keychain. I didn't just want one that was "close enough", I wanted an authentic one. One that had my real name and actually spelled it right. It's been a long time since I've been to a gift shop, so maybe they do have my name by now. I highly doubt it, but just maybe.
I would just like to say to all of the keychain companies out there, that kids with uncommon names do exist. We want a keychain just like everybody else does and we want them spelled correctly. I'm speaking for kids of generations to come, because my time to collect keychains throughout my childhood is gone. And I don't know, maybe kids nowadays could not care less about a stupid keychain, but I know for a fact that me and others my age who were deprived of them would appreciate the gesture (I'm just being dramatic here, I'm not really upset with the keychain companies..well, not entirely).
