Ever since college I have had people look at me funny, and then eventually ask me this question in one form or another, "Is your name Stephanie by chance?" I've just come to expect it.
When I tell them no, they ask me what my name is, and when I tell them they almost always say, "I never would have guessed that. You look nothing like a Sherri."
Is this weird to anyone besides me?
It happened again yesterday when I was in Wal-Mart. The lady at the check out counter kept staring at me. Every time I would look at her she would look away really quick, and then when I would look away she'd start staring again. Of course it was starting to make me feel just slightly self-conscious. After the third time I smiled at her, hoping that if she thought I was friendly she might be inclined to tell me what she was staring at, even if it was embarrassing to me. :) Sure enough, she asked "the question". Then she proceeded to tell me the second most popular thing I've heard in the last 10 years or so...."You have an identical twin in the area whose name is Stephanie." She went on to say that this person goes to her grandma's church here in town. I asked which one it was and she told me. Thankfully I was able to say that I had never been to that particular church! LOL
A man in our church who is generally very friendly avoided me for the first two months that they attended. I couldn't help but notice, so one day when I had plenty of time before the service started I just went up to him and introduced myself and told him I was sorry I hadn't taken the time to get to know him before.
He asked, "What did you say your name was again?"
After I told him he started laughing. He couldn't stop! I just kind of chuckled nervously as I waited for him to gain control enough to explain.
He said, "All this time, I thought you were that disrespectful little chick that jumped down my throat when I first started working for the art museum here in town." Dismay is the only way I can describe how I felt! My guess is that her name is Stephanie.
I've also had people tell me I look like a Jennifer. One of those people was a special speaker at our church who came up to me after I sang once and said, "If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, who lives in Arizona! I had to do a triple take. You look JUST like her, and she can sing, too!" He was so excited about that.
Ironically, two of my very best friends in the whole world are a "Stephanie" and "Jennifer"! They were roommates at the Christian college I attended several years before I got there. Stephanie was staff when I arrived and I didn't meet Jennifer until two years after I left college when she moved in across the street from me here in Montana!
As a side-note: When I was seventeen someone gave me the book "Sherri" by Leila Prince Golding. The main character was a "Sherri" with long brown hair and big brown eyes, who ended up meeting and eventually marrying a "Joshua" with blond/brown hair and blue eyes in the state of Indiana. I had always thought it would be the epidemy of romance if that happened to me. And it did!
God is weaving the tapestry of my life, and the small glimpses that I've gotten of it are so beautiful!
5 comments:
I don't ever get people telling me I look like someone, but people always, always call me Michelle instead of Melisa. I worked for the Clarks for 5 years and every once in awhile Mrs. Clark would call me Michelle. I always wondered why everyone in different times of my life have always called me Michelle. I must look like one.
That's funny, I get Amber and Sherri. What exactly does an Amanda really look like, anyway?
That last part made me go Awwwwh!
Now I know why we didn't get along when we were growing up. I was stuck with the 'evil' twin Stephanie!!
I'm sure glad we found 'you' when we did!
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." You fill in the rest with Anne of Green Gables, cause I know she doesn't think it would.
Okay, all I could do was laugh! I have been called Jennifer before, but the most popular name I have been called is "Sherry." But, I think that was mostly because of my maiden name of "McSherry"! (I don't get called Sherry much anymore!) Or...do I look like a Sherry?!? Well, either way, you were and still are, affectionately, my little sister. ;)
~Stephanie Widmaier
Well, hey... if you have to be mistakenly called another name, what better name than Stephanie? :o) LOL I have been told in the past that I do not "look" like a "Stephanie" -- ok, so then what does one look like? LOL I think people have preconceived ideas about that sort of thing based on past people they've known with the same name. I'd been called Michelle from time to time at Fairhaven (which for reasons I will not mention, REALLY made me angry! ergh!!). I've also gotten "Stacey" a few times, too. I think Sherri fits you quite well (not that my opinion is of any significance... lol). After a quick Google search, I found that the name Sherri means "dear" -- and you have always seemed to be just that. :o) Quite fitting, I'd say. I also think some people look at us strangely when we go out places due to the fact that we are Christians, and they can sense that something is different. I, too, have found that a simple smile in the direction of the staring person often quickly alleviated the awkwardness of the situation. So, enjoy your name, "dear"!!! ;-)
~ Stephanie Sutton
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