Mijoy

I often wonder how many people understand why I go by "Mijoy". Mijoy is the pairing of my first and middle name -- Michelle Joy. I always thought that my middle name was so ironic because I am not by definition a "joyous" person. My mother told me that when she was pregnant with me, she kept seeing the scripture that reads, "Joy comes in the morning." I was born in the morning, so she thought that the name was appropriate.

Whenever I have a birthday or special occassion, my mother always finds a card that has the word "Joy" in it. It always makes me feel good deep down that I'm a joy to at least SOMEONE. I guess by calling myself "Mijoy" I am trying to remind myself to be the joyous person that I was intended to be (at least according to my mother).

When I was in highschool, I drew this really stupid sign that said in really big letters, "SMILE!" I taped it to the top shelf so everytime I opened my locker, it would encourage me to try to smile and be nice to people. Maybe by tagging myself as Mijoy I am doing the same thing... trying to tell myself that I need to be joyous and nice to people. Even when I don't want to.

I was named Michelle after my parents' neighbor and good friend, Michael. He was killed by a drunk driver when my Mom was 7 months pregnant with me. Before that, I was going to be Roberta, after my grandfather Robert. I was always thankful that Michael spared his life so I would not have to live mine as Roberta. Michelle means "Who is like God?" which is just as fitting as Joy. If by fitting you mean not fitting.

My newest name, Peerenboom, is Dutch for pear tree. I always joke with John that I went from bad to worse with my last name. But I actually really like my new name. I always get a lot of comments on it and I enjoy explaining to people what it means. Besides, the name belongs to my husband, so why wouldn't I love it?

So I guess if you put all my names together, I'm a godlike joyous person that lives in a pear tree. I guess I have a lot to live up to.