Names by Ryan Ford

Aurelia is very superstitious and believes in evil spirits. It comes from her Dominican beliefs. Because of the two near miscarriages she had with Mariana, she believed evil spirits were after her daughter. Thats why she called Mariana ugly names until she was three. My name doesn't have much history. My mother was a flight attendant and so she came back from a flight she had to Egypt and wanted to name me Ramses. After another trip she wanted to name me Percival. Needless to say my father was quick to talk her out of both and am very thankful I ended up with Ryan. I don't mind it and I think it fits me. I'm not sure but I think it means kingly. Anyways, I don't have a secret name nor have I ever used an alternate name. I've had more nicknames than I can remember over the years. My favorite/strangest nickname was probably the one I had in high school. My football coach would always yelling at someone. Whenever he yelled at me he would always say "Damnit Ford move faster, Damnit Ford move your feet..." Damnit Ford this and Damnit Ford that. I wasn't the greatest football player so I get yelled at a lot and eventually he just dropped my last name from it...I knew he was talking to me. After a while we started joking that Coach Vaughn probably forgot what my real name was and the rest of the team started calling me Damnit. It spread to the hallways and around school and by the end of the year some teachers even called me Damnit.