Names

Tonight is The Moth (a monthly story-telling event that audience members participate in). This month's theme was "names" and a month ago, when I went to the "Grand slam" and heard the winners throughout the year tell their stories on stage, I thought to myself "I can do this." But unfortunately, whether it be from laziness, lack of motivation, or more likely, an inherent fear of failure, I never wrote a story.

It sucks, too, because names are something that I'm completely fascinated with. I wanted to tell the story of how my mother called me a couple years ago, after a few glasses of wine, and confessed to me that she had named my older brother, Asher, not after her Uncle Al as everyone (including my father and brother) believed, but after her cat Annie who had died while she was pregnant with my brother. I totally related to this, and it was one of the best conversations we had ever had, as it helped me to see her as more human and more like me. I would name my kid after my cat. I would.

The problem is, the story had no punch line. Ummm, but after writing that last paragraph, I think I just figured it out. Brb, I gotta write a story.