My mom was proud of her maiden name, more so than her married name, the latter of which was my surname. I didn't like the name, but didn't realize it was probably because of mother. Neither names are unusual, but not common either. Just regular unassuming names more likely not to be given names.

My younger brother's middle name was our mother's maiden name, but he was dubbed a junior. Since our father's middle name was Washington, perhaps they didn't wish to burden him with it,...

My first grade began when I was five years old. My mother, who was very frugal even paid tuition at the public school for it to happen. I don't remember much about it although there was a boy I liked. One day when I fell, mother must have kept me at home next day because his mother brought him to our house and he had a present for me. I think it was handkerchiefs. He had red hair and a lot of freckles. Many years later, my second husband happened to have a business trip to a town near where I lived...

A Native American man is in his mid-eighties. He grew up in great poverty, the baby of 14 children. When he was 16, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. He begged his mother to sign the papers so he could join the Navy. Finally, she did. He enlisted and says by the time he reached San Francisco, he knew how to smoke cigarettes and gamble. He discovered he was good at the latter and during his 4 years he sent all his winnings home and his mother saved it until his return.

When his ship landed...