My name is ANNE

My name is Anne. NOT Ann, not Annie, or any other variation of those letters.

I wonder why I am so often called Annie when a person (specially someone new) sees A N N E written, and pronounces it with the extra vowell ... there is no I in ANNE.

During my recent adventure in the world of medicine, every time someone came in to my hospital room to administer therapy, medicines, or anything else, I was asked my 'name and date of birth'..... which I obediently gave every time, "Anne Babin, 10-16-30".

I sure did not say ANNIE.... But the next fellow who came in with my chart looked at the written word, and then at me, and said ANNIE? I finally had to tell them NO! I AM NOT ANNIE.!

It's always been difficult enough to get people in general to allow me to keep the E at the end my my given name... ANNE. It's amazing how many people only know how to spell ANN without the E. The sound is the same, so I guess that's expediency... just drop the E and go with ANN.

When I was younger, I served as recording secretary for a state-wide women's organization. The leaders of this group were all good friends, and I enjoyed my term as secretary. BUT at the beginning I had to convince everyone that I am ANNE not Ann or Annie. I cut out 100 copies of the letter E from newsprint, magazines, etc., and pasted them onto one big sheet of paper.

I sent this to our president of the organization, explaining that she would never have to leave off the E from my name again, since I had provided enough for the 2-year term.

She got a good laugh out of my shenanigan, but I did notice that it worked. I never had to beg for an E again.

So the moral to this story is probably non-existent, except to say that a person's name should be respected, no matter what it is or how difficult it is to spell or pronounce.