While some parents use nicknames to embarrass their children, my parents took the nickname calling to the ultimate level. By the time I was five, my name had unofficially been changed from Ashley to Bird.
    Although this may sound odd to you, the change wasn’t difficult for my parents or myself since they took every opportunity to announce the name to others.
    The history of Bird started before I can even remember. When I was a child, I often picked at the food on my plate, not that my mother wasn’t a fantastic cook, but it was just something I did. My mother fixed me dinner and once in a great while I actually finished eating it. If I didn’t finish the food, she laughed and said, “You are just like a bird, always picking at your food.”
    The nickname didn’t bother me much, because at the time I was more concerned with my childhood dolls Nicky, Vicky and Sicky. And it definitely helped my new name matched my childhood hero, Larry Bird.
    I spent hours in the driveway playing basketball, taking shots and announcing my own play-by-play while I tried to imitate the moves of Larry Bird. I took pieces of wood my father threw out back, which he had little use for, and set them up as if they were my opponents, dribbling circles around each and every one of them. In essence, I was my own personal basketball star, lowering the hoop in an effort to assist my lacking dunking abilities. I climbed on my father’s sled so I could reach his garage stereo system, which I blasted loud enough for the next county to hear. I would enter in my own free throw contest and claim victory on most occasions.  
    During my real basketball games, my father liked to advertise the name, shouting “go Bird,” whenever he got the chance. At one game, while I was still in elementary school he shouted it loud enough for my teammates to hear and they just didn’t get it. One of my teammates in particular asked me about the name, which I hesitantly told her was due to my father’s innate ability to try and destroy my reputation.
    That excuse didn’t last long. When I started high school and my father continued calling me Bird, I decided to tell my friends the truth about his name calling. Although a lot of my friends gave me odd looks and still questioned why my father would name a human Bird, I really began to accept the name as my own.
    Of course, the change only brought more Bird name ideas to the floor, including Bird-Brain which my mother adopted in an effort to prove to me I was smart. Another one was Bird-Ex of Chelsea, Chelsea being the name of the small town I grew up in, but I really couldn’t tell you where Bird-Ex came from. Others included Little Bird which was more of a name my mother would use when she was proud of one of my accomplishments. In fact, when I began my position at Mainely Media, LLC I can distinctly remember what my mother said.
    “I am so proud of my Little Bird,” she said, pouring with joy.
    The name of this column was almost Birds Eye View, a name I am proud to say my mother thought up on her own.
    It’s a wonder I didn’t start growing feathers and two wings. My parents call me Bird so often, I can’t begin to guess when they called me Ashley last and I know I could probably count the number of times they have used my real name on both my hands.
    I guess I would say I am honored to have a nickname my parents like to use. It’s funny how things we hate when we are children are things we cherish as we grow older. My brother never had a nickname, although he wasn’t one to joke around a whole lot and any time my parents would “yank his chain,” the chains would break. I’d like to believe, as a lot of people do, the name change was made because my parents like me best. Although I know this probably isn’t the case.
    Today, I look at my nickname as something special which two very important people in my life picked out for me. It wasn’t to poke fun or to humiliate me, although I may have thought that early on. The name is more about something special I hope I can pass down to my children some day.
    But they can’t have Bird, because that’s my name.