My Name Up in Lights

My name, I’ve been told, was not chosen until after I was born. Mom and Dad, for some reason, were expecting a boy. This was long before ultrasounds. Anyway, they had no girl’s name picked out. The story goes that Dad admired a movie star of the day named Anita Louise. Not that I looked anything like a movie star as a baby, but that’s the name they put on the birth certificate. Fast forward twenty-some years and my newly wedded groom, who does think that I look like a movie star and says I’ve brightened his life considerably, starts calling me Ani Lou, an affectionate nick name. I like it. I’ve liked it now for over 35 years. And if you haven’t guessed it already—I like puns too. I also like things to be well-defined, in the tangible as well as intangible. I want to understand things as deeply as possible, and then pass it on. Brightening the corner where I am.